The White Rose & The Hero
by ShadedHeart Lamora
Summary: Yuffie's life's in a mess. Her father's pissed, she has fled home and suddenly she misses her mother more than ever. Vincent isn't much of a company either. So then, to Edge! There she should be able to find peace, and complete her quest of maturing.
1. Prologue: Hero

_**Happy Birthday Hero! It is done, I have completed it! Oh well, not completed, but written the first chapter at least. **_

_**Oh well. This is my first multi-chapter story. Yay! Yuffentine is da best. I hope that this... thing will be funny and serious at the same time. Well, not the same time, but sometimes funny and sometimes serious...? Ehh... Well anyway! Enjoy!**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I don not own Final Fantasy VII. It is a shame, and when I become the ruler of the universe I will buy the copyright. And I will make sure that Square produces more sequels! Yay! Well, until then... I just own this stupid plot.**_

**Chapter 1 _~Prologue~ _:Hero**

When I was little, I always dreamt of my Hero on his white chocobo, who would come and save me if I ever was in trouble. Of course, this was before I became an awesome ninja who would never get into trouble. My mother used to tell me such wonderful bedtime stories and fairy tales, when she was still alive. And afterwards, I fantasised about this Hero.

What would my Hero look like? Of course, he'd be tall, handsome, sexy, muscular, and he'd be nice and kind and all that. He'd be strong and smart, but not too strong or too smart, because I would of course be the strongest and the smartest. Maybe... maybe he'd be blond, with pretty blue eyes... not too tall, but muscular and cute. Or maybe he'd be red-haired and have green, sparkly eyes? Long red hair? Or maybe he'd have short, black hair and stunning grey eyes...or maybe he'd be Wutai and have long black hair, or maybe he'd be dark-skinned and have beautiful brown eyes that made you feel like as if you were drowning...

Now, later on in my life, I realised that my childhood Hero could have been Cloud, Reno, a short-haired Vincent with a different eye colour, Tseng or a Rude with hair. Yeesh. True, true, Cloud has always been the pretty-boy of AVALANCHE, Reno is one hell of a good-looking guy, Vince _is_ sexy as the devil, Tseng is hot and Rude would be if he had some hair instead of looking like a polished, shiny egg. With a tan. Tanned egg? Hmm...

Anyway, when I had started thinking of the Hero himself, I started thinking of the chocobo as well. In the stories my mother told me, it was white as snow. But that's boring. Why not black? Or white with black legs? Or green? Red? Blue? Pink? Plain yellow? Or maybe purple, beige, orange, grey, gold, brown, lime, turquoise? Or... a white chocobo with dots and hearts and stars in all those colours! That was my Hero. My Cloud-Reno-almost-Vincent-Tseng-Rude-with-hair-Hero, on his white-black-green-red-blue-yellow-purple-beige-orange-grey-gold-brown-lime-turquoise chocobo. Such sweet childhood dreams.

But then the war came, my mother was ill and died, and my whole life got fucked up. And there was no brave Hero on a cute chocobo to come to my rescue, when I suddenly was stuck with my asshole of a father.

My asshole of a father who wanted me to get married. Never! The great ninja Yuffie Kisaragi cannot get married! The old fart expects me to drag some whiny husband along? Absolutely _not_!

It's like this: Twice or thrice each month, Godo looks at me over his newspaper when we're eating breakfast, and says:

"Yuffie, I've found a suitor for you to marry."

And each time it's the same thing. I'm forced to meet this guy, whoever he is, and I scare him off. Once I appeared dressed like the old-times ninja, all in black with only my eyes visible. I had a scarf in the same colour as blood tied around my sexy waist, and I had put my whole collection of knives and small or medium sized shuriken in it, and I had my Conformer hanging from some straps on my back. That was enough to scare him away.

Another time I came ten minutes too late, with mud all over me, untidy hair filled with sticks and withered leaves, clothes torn and worn. Then there was that time when I was being extremely loud, I completely ignored all kind of manners I was supposed to use, I burped aloud after the dinner, and so on. Or when I only talked about how many shuriken I owned, how many monsters I had slain, how strong and fast I was and how people respected me since I was the greatest warrior in all of Wutai. Another time I pretended to be scared of the guy, every time he moved I jumped and twitched and winced, my eyes wide open, always looking for an exit.

Then, of course, when I acted as if I liked the guy. I was flirtatious, I was wearing the sexiest clothes I could find, and I winked and smiled at him all the time. When dinner was over, I asked him if he wanted to take a walk in the garden. He said yes, and off we went. Halfway up Da Chao I suddenly pressed him against a rock, whispering in a husky voice:

"I want you, I want you sooo badly... I want you to take me right here, right now!"

I never saw the guy again. He practically flew down the slopes of Da Chao. I kinda did the same thing to another young man. I was nice and polite, asked him to take a stroll with me, and halfway up the mountain, I pinned him to the same rock, pressing a knife against his neck, hissing:

"Such a sweet little boy...must have sweet blood. I have a friend, you know, and he's very fond of sweet blood, from young men. I think you should meet him..."

That poor man disappeared even faster than the previous. Vincent can be useful, sometimes, and he doesn't even have to be present.

But this time, it seemed like my father was serious.

"Yuffie," he said, "I have a suitor for you to marry."

"Mm-hmm."

"You will eat dinner with him and his mother and father later today."

"Mm-hmm."

"And you _will_ behave, otherwise you will not be allowed to meet your dear little friends again."

"Mm-h – _what!_"

So I had no choice. And here I was, in my chamber, dressed in a beautiful and terribly uncomfortable kimono made of white silk with cherry blossoms, my maid brushing my hair.

"Aoww... Aaow... _Aoow!_ That _hurt_, Tsuki!"

How awesome isn't that? Her name is _Tsuki._ Moon. Not fair! That's an awesome name! Of course, Yuffie is an awesome name as well, but not _that_ awesome. I guess she got her name because of her hair. In the moonlight it glows and shines in silver. She has such beautiful hair. It reaches past her waist, and it's all black and silky...

"I am sorry, miss Yuffie, but your father ordered your hair washed and brushed and..."

"I know, Tsuki! But it _hurts!_ Like a bitch!"

"Oh, miss Yuffie, you shouldn't use..."

"I use whatever words I want to! I am the fucking princess of Wutai goddammit! If Smokeman Cid can swear, I can swear because _I'm a damned princess godfuckingdammit!_"

I was not happy at all. I like my hair when it's unkempt and dirty. I don't like when it's being brushed.

"Oh, such foul words, Lady Yuffie! If your father heard..."

"Well the old pimp isn't here to hear, right? He can go fuck himself."

"Miss Yuffie! You should_ not_ speak of your father like that! Lord Godo has put a lot of effort into raising you after your mother – may Leviathan have mercy upon her soul – died!"

"He put a lot of effort into ruining my life, yes. I don't want to get married! Men suck! Being a Wutai wife sucks! Having kids sucks!"

"Now, now, miss Yuffie, men are often very sweet and children are some of the most adorable beings on this planet..."

"I'd rather share home with three raging Cactuars and fourteen Tonberries and two rape-faced Behemoths! I'd rather share home with Cap'n-Emo-Vampire-Brooding-Angsty-Ass-Lord-Of-Depression-Vincent-Valentine!"

And so on. Tsuki continued being all kind and gentle and motherly (kinda like Boobs) and I kept on being a grumpy bitch. That suitor had better be a handsome guy. Then I would at least have something to look at.

When my hair had been brushed and Tsuki had put a beautiful hairpin with a lotus flower in it, she told me to stay still so that she could put on some make-up. But that was just _enough._

"_No, _Tsuki! No make-up! Never! I don't want ten tonnes of mascara and eye-shadow and all that gross, slimy, sticky stuff in my face! I already am the essence of beauty and prettiness, no make-up!"

And she actually listened. No make-up for me.

Tsuki told me to stay in my room, not move, hardly even breathe and be quiet until the suitor and his parents arrived. I got bored very quickly, and started thinking about what the other AVALANCHE members were doing. Boobs – taking care of people, making them get drunk by selling alcohol and then take care of them, I guess. Cloud – looking like a chocoass as usual. Vinnie – brooding in some dark corner, probably cutting himself with that scary claw. Cid – drinking tea, swearing ans smoking at the same time. Barret – probably something more interesting than this. Reeve – petting Cait Sith or just being extremely busy with random important things. Nanaki – being heroic and protecting his beloved Canyon, I guess. Aeris – being angelic in heaven. Me – being forced to meet yet another stupid guy with no brains and pretend to be interested. Sucks.

"Miss Yuffie, he is here now."

"...Coming, Tsuki..."

Slowly walking down the stairs. Why did I have to have the suckiest dad in the entire world?

When I stepped into the room the first thing I saw was him. The suitor. He kinda reminded me of Vince, long black hair and skinny as hell, but this guy had amber eyes and his hair was in a high ponytail. Those eyes...strange. Really strange.

"Lady Yuffie..." he said, and bowed. I looked at him, childishly curious. He reminded me of a wolf. I saw an older woman, who must be his mother.

"Does he bite?" I asked. She stared at me.

"Excuse me?"

"Does he bite? Or bark?" Now they were all staring at me. Ahh, how I love attention! I went towards the guy, my head slightly tilted to the right, an evil smile on my lips.

"Hi, boy! Nice boy! Gimme five! No? If I give you sweets? You bark much? You house-trained?"

They kept on staring. I continued on.

"Does he know any commands? Can he like, bark if I tell him to?"

"What are you saying, Miss Yuffie?" The mother didn't look very happy. The wolf-guy only looked confused.

"Ahahh..." my intelligent father exclaimed. "My _dear_ daughter has quite vivid imagination. I believe that she may be a little bored. You see, she doesn't have as many friend here as you would expect..."

"That's because my friend live in Edge, Rocket Town and Cosmo Canyon!" I said, maybe a little too loud.

"Oh?" the father, a tall and muscular man with short black haired with grey streaks, said. "Why is that? I have heard that you are a lively young woman, why wouldn't you have Wutai friends?"

"Aah..." I said. The truth was that the Wutai girls were all little dolls for their parents to dress up, and the boys always thought they were so much better than the girls. "I, aah... I don't get along with them very well..."

"What a shame," the father said. "But I believe that you and my son will be perfect for each other. Fenriru likes to make up his own little stories and..."

I stared at him, and didn't listen to what he said. Was he serious? The guys name was _Fenriru_?

"Ahahahaaaa!" I laughed. "Hahaa! One of my friends has a motorcycle named Fenriru, but in Common! Ahaha!"

They stared even more at me than they has been doing before. I stopped laughing, choked, and whispered through my giggles: "Sorry."

"Ahem, shall we eat, Lord and Lady Misayaki?" Godo asked in a _veeery_ discreet way. They both seemed to be relieved, and nodded enthusiastically.

When we were sitting at the table, the wolf guy (seriously?_Fenriru?_) asked me politely:

"So, um, Lady Yuffie, I have been told that you were part of AVALANCHE in the Jenova and DeepGround Wars?"

"I sure as hell was!" said happily, not minding the angry look on my father's face. "I fought with them against that momma's boy Sephiroth, and then his rape-faced avatars, who were just as much momma's boys as him, and then I became the head of espionage and intelligence gathering in the WRO because I know the leader, he's one of my AVALANCHE buddies, and then I fought DeepGround together with Chocoass and Boobs and Mr. Machinegun and Smokeman and the toy cat who speaks in a very silly way and of course Mr. Doom-And-Gloom-I'm-A-Zombie-Vampire Vincent Valentine, and we kicked serious butt!" I inhaled all of the air in Wutai and continued.

"And now they're living like everywhere except _here_, where I want them to be, and the only question is when Boobs and Chocoass, Smokeman and Shera and Shelke and Nanaki are going to have babies. All right, maybe not Shelke and Nanaki, that would be kinda perverse, but the others..."

He looked at me in a very strange way. He didn't look offended, or terrified, but more like... amused and interested?

"Wow, Lady Yuffie, you've been through a whole lot, now haven't you?"

"I sure as hell have!"

Then my father decided he didn't like me any more. Oh well, not that he ever liked me, but whatever.

"Yuffie!" he yelled. That man is so discreet.

"What, oh what is it, dear father whom I love more than anything on this earth, oh you my shining star of guidance..."

I could write poetry.

"Oh you the mightiest of warriors, Master of the Pagoda, ehh, you bright sun of intelligence...?"

I couldn't help it; I tried to stop it, but I started to giggle. Bright sun of intelligence? Where did I get that from? One thing's for sure, Godo's never been bright or intelligent. And now he was un-brighter than ever, staring at me with a not not-so-friendly gaze.

I'll tell ya, not even Vince can compete with the death-stares my father and I are giving each other. He stared at me, obviously trying to make me turn into a Razor Weed with leg cramps, and I stared at him, trying to turn him into a Hecteyes, because he'd look so much prettier then.

"Yuffie..." he growled. "You do remember what I said earlier, do you not?"

"Yes, _beloved_ father, I do. And I say that you won't be able to do just that you said you'd do if I didn't do what you wanted me to do, even if I do what you didn't want me to do, because I do as I wanna do and not as you want me to do because I believe in doing what you want to do!"

They all looked at me, confused. Fenriru cleared his throat.

"Hrm, Lady Yuffie..."

"Stop calling me 'Lady'. I hate it."

"A-alright then, Yuffie... I admire your strength and your courage. Truly, you are the perfect heir to the throne of Wutai!"

Now _that's _the right kinda talking. I began to like this guy.

"Hmm, if you say so, then sure!" I said happily, being as humble as ever. He smiled at me, leaned forward and looked at me, his eyes shining with warmth.

"You are the perfect type for a ruler. You're strong-willed, quick-tongued, light-feeted, straight-minded..."

"Hey! What do you mean by straight-minded? You mean 'straight' as in 'not gay'? You're a gay-hater! "

I got to my feet, suddenly finding myself looking down at him since we use low tables in Wutai. And I was burning with rage.

"What? _What_? Well say something! If it's something I hate then it is people who are being prejudicing, idiotic, narrow-minded, bitching, sexist _whores!_"

Maybe I overreacted. Maybe. But I was already so mad at my father, and I have a quite... changeable temper.

"What are you _saying_, Miss Yuffie?" the mother yelled. Screeched. She looked like she was going to faint any second. The father had also risen to his feet, infuriated.

"What did you call my son?"

"I said that he was a sexist whore, that's what I said!" I shouted back.

"_YUFFIE!_" Oops. Daddy was not very happy with me. "You have gone _way_ too far, young lady! Go to your room, stay there until I say you may leave it, be quiet, but first you will apologise!"

"I won't!"

"_YUFFIE KISARAGI!_ You are no longer permitted to see your friends! You _will_ be punished if you leave Wutai!"

That was just enough. I turned around, and ran, ran, ran for everything I held dear, out through the door and into the entrance hall, past Tsuki who looked like she had never heard anything like this before (and she probably hadn't), up the stairs to my room, slamming the door shut and locking it. I tore my kimono off, threw it at the floor, grabbed the first _real_ clothes I got my eyes on and dressed as quickly as possible. It was a emerald green tank top, and beige shorts. I opened my wardrobe, took a pair of socks (knee-high grey ones with a few broad, lemon-yellow stripes) and pulled them on. My shoes, my Eveningstar (the poor Conformer was all worn out, since I had been using it so frequently), as many small shuriken I could find down my pockets, socks and bra, a couple of slim throwing knives, a sheer midnight blue scarf which I tied around my waist (in case it would get cold, scarves are surprisingly warming) and I was all set.

I opened the window, jumped out and landed on the roof two metres below. Hastily I ran over it, until I reached the tree which was my ladder to freedom whenever I wanted to flee from my father (like now, for example), climbing down, down, down, not making a noise, quickly now Yuffie, before he finds out. That was like, the only thing my father was good at. Finding out. Finding out that I had stolen his favourite katana, the Ame-no-Murakumo (dunno why he has it, though, since he never uses it), finding out that I had thrown a poach filled with extraordinary stinking and itching powder at Gorki (really, who cares except Gorki himself, everybody though it was a great joke), finding out that I had fled from home. Again. I have lost count of the times I've made a grand escape from this place now.

Running through the darkness, black night, no light in the alleys, not stumble and fall, Yuffie, then he'll get you and you'll be chained to your bed for the rest of your life. A boat, I need a boat, oh Leviathan, I hate boats, I hate motion sickness and throwing up everything I have ever eaten, but holy materia I need a boat! Never before have I needed a boat like now, and I need it quickly. Godo will pluck my eyes out and serve them to the wolf-guy's parents as an apologise if he finds me, and he will if I don't get a _boat_!

A boat? A boat alone wouldn't been enough to save me. What I needed was my Hero on his white chocobo.

Luckily enough, I found him.

_**Ahahaa! That was short, I know. But... ah...it's only the prologue. I don't know how often I will be updating, though, since I am veeery busy playing Final Fantasy VIII and soon XIII (soon I'll have a PS3! Yay!)and stuff... Talking about FFVIII, I've gotta thank Laguna for the leg-cramping Razor Weed and the 'grand escape'. Not from Centra, though. **_

_**I know this whole thing sucks, but I just couldn't concentrate. And now in the end, when I could concentrate properly, I didn't have any time, plus I've got a cold! Sucks. Well, if I'm home from school tomorrow as well (I hope hope hope so!) I promise that I'll start on the second...first?...chapter. **_

_**Please don't whine too much about my grammar and stuff... I am the Queen of Bad Grammar. And I'm Swedish! You hear that? Swedish! That's another language, man, it's not easy for me to write in English but I've gotta practise...I'm not as awesome as Yuffie.**_

_**BTW, if I get 25 reviews (not for only this chapter stupid; the whole story of course!) I'll write a FreyaxAmarant one-shot. Tempting, eh? Yeah, so gimme lovin'! I especially wantz lavin' from three people. Guess who. **_

_**Anyway, Happy birthday Hero, this is all for you. Guess why the chapter's called 'Hero'. And guess which theme it's having. If you guess wrong I will stop admiring you.**_

_**~ShadedHeart Lamora**_


	2. Chapter 1: NauSea of sorrow

_**Aaand the second chapter's up. First. Whatever. And it only took a week! I am a good girl. **_

_**Personally, I think this chapter is waaay better than the previous. Do keep in mind that that doesn't mean better grammar and stuff. Nope. Never. I think I'll stick to my bad grammar... Me no good England, yes? **_

_**Hrm. Anyway. Like, enjoy. Or whatever. (I've been playing FFVIII too much... Squall is infesting my head.)**_

_**DISCLAIMER: Blah blah I don't own Final Fantasy VII or any other Final fantasy game, just copies of the games which I have bought legally and stuff blah blah. And I don't own 'Suteki Da Ne' either. **_

**Chapter one: Nau-sea of sorrow**

Oh, well. Maybe not Hero. But pretty damn close.

He was stalking around in the shadows, as usual. Does he ever do anything else? I ran even faster towards him.

"Vince!" I yelled. He turned around, he had already heard my footsteps and that yell must've been heard by half of Wutai. It looked like he was opening his mouth to say something, but he never had the time. I threw myself at him, wrapped my arms around his skinny body and howled.

"...Yuffie?" he said, obviously surprised by my actions.

"Vince you've gotta help me dad's gonna kill me because I really really screwed up this time and the wolf-guy's parents are gonna kill me too and I need to get outta here now!"

"Yuffie. Calm down. What has happened? You are very upset, and it is not like you to be like this."

I took a deep breath, tried to not hyperventilate, and shut my eyes for a moment.

"Dad wants me to get married. I've lost count of the number of suitors I've scared away. This guy today looked like a wolf and his name was Fenriru, can you believe it? I though is was very funny and joked a lot about his name and looks. Then he started giving me compliments and that was all nice and stuff, but then he said something and I overreacted a lot, and called him a prejudicing sexist whore, and his parents was pissed and Godo was pissed and I fled, and if dad finds me he's going to kill me, Vince, you've gotta take me away from here!"

"Yuffie. Godo will not kill you. You are the heir to the throne, and if you die there will be no member of the Kisaragi family to take over the place as Wutai's ruler when your father passes away. And I think that he wants a Kisaragi to be his successor. He will not kill you, since you are his only child."

"Thanks, Vince, that feels very comforting. 'He will not kill you since you are his only child'. Really, thank you. But you still have to get me outta here! Are there any boats departing for Edge soon?"

"...Yuffie. It is 9 p.m. I do not think..."

"Great! Then there's a boat leaving in half an hour, come on Vince!"

"And what if I had intended to stay here for a while?"

"You don't. If anyone sees you they'll know that you're one of my buddies, and if I'm gone then they'll think that you've kidnapped me or something and then they'll hunt you down Vince, come on _let's go!_"

I grabbed his arm and started dragging him down the alley. He grunted and muttered, but I didn't care one bit. Then I realised something.

"...Vince, what are you doing in Wutai?"

"I am currently travelling around the world, since I have nothing else to do."

"Then why the hell didn't you come visit me, scumbag? I'm like, your bestest friend ever!"

"I did not think that you would appreciate it. We are, after all, very different."

"Puu-lease! Come on, Vince! Of course I'd like you to visit me! Actually, I'm pretty angry with you for not doing that. Stupid vampire!"

Oh, I knew how he hated to be called 'vampire'. Me and Cid listened to his complaints only to know what we were not giving a damn about. And we had done so ever since...like, a real long time ago.

"...Hn. I am not a vampire Yuffie; I know that you know this."

"What-ever-man! You look like one, you live like one, you sleep like one... 'Nuff said!"

"Yuffie. I would appreciate if you did not remind me of those years..."

"...You spent rotting away and getting mouldy in a coffin, right. Let's get going. I've gotta get my pretty ass outta here like, preferably two hours ago, so like, _move!_"

I continued pulling him with me, and to my big surprise he followed nicely, like a dog. A very, very big and scary dog. Eventually we reached the harbour. I immediately started looking for a ship, got my eyes on one and hurried towards it. A sleepy man sitting in the ticket booth looked at us when we approached; it seemed like he had not expected any travel-wanting people at this time of the day. I couldn't exactly say that I felt peckish for a boat ride either, but I didn't have any other choice than getting on board that hell-vehicle in order to save my smooth skin.

"Two tickets! Now! By the way, where's the boat goin'?"

"Boat's departing for Costa del Sol, miss. Tickets'll be... lessee... 4000 gil."

"You frickin' _joking _with me? That's robbery! Vince, you got any money?"

"...I have some, yes."

"Then, hand it over, quickly!"

"You do not have any yourself?"

"Well, how about 'no'? I, like, fled from home, if you recall, and I didn't exactly have the time to think about what I should bring. Money, now, vamps!"

"Hn", was all he said when he paid for our tickets, glaring at me.

"I owe you big-time!" I happily yelled as I skipped aboard.

"Hn", he answered. He's such a talkative man, that Valentine.

We spent five minutes finding the cabin with a number that matched the one on our tickets (the stupid zombie had managed to get us a single room, meaning I had to share with him! Sheez!), and then I spent another five minutes pacing around the room, anxiously tugging at my fingers. I've gotten a habit of pulling the joints in my fingers apart when I'm nervous. It creates small, really fascinating depressions that looks kinda scary I guess, Tsuki totally spasmed at me when I did that. Vince spent his minutes watching me coldly, as if I didn't have the hugest problems you possibly could have. I hate him. He's such a whore.

Then, finally, or maybe not finally, the boat started to move. So did the contents of my stomach. I crouched down on the floor, put my hands over my head, shut my eyes and tried to make myself believe that I was on solid ground by slowly rocking back and forth, like my mother had done with me when I was little and had had a nightmare. I think I let out a small whimper as a wave made our vessel tilt in a way that made me feel as if it would keel over. I tried to remember that song mum always sang to calm me down, a beautiful love song that always made me think of a pretty spring illuminated by the moon and starlight descending from the black night sky. Without realising it, I began to sing it to myself.

"Kaze ga yoseta kotoba ni, oyoida kokoro. Kumo ga hakobu ashita ni, hazunda koe. Tsuki ga yureru kagami ni, furueta kokoro. Hoshi ga nagare koboreta, yawarakai namida..."

"...Yuffie?"

"...Suteki da ne, futari te wo tori aruketa nara. Ikitai yo, kimi no machi ie ude no naka. Sono mune, karada azuke. Yoi ni magire, yumemiru."

"Yuffie!"

I woke up from my paralysis. Vince was looking at me in a really odd way.

"Huh?" I said, I could hear how weak my voice sounded.

"...Are you all right?"

"Of course I'm not, dumbass, I'm on a boat. Kaze wa tomari kotoba wa, yasashii maboroshi. Kumo wa yabure ashita wa, tooku no koe."

"Yuffie."

"Tsuki ga nijimu kagami wo, nagareta kokoro. Hoshi ga yurete koboreta, kakusenai namida."

"Yuffie!"

"Suteki da ne, futari te wo... What?"

"Can I help you with something?"

I grinned at him, my teeth tightly clenched in a grimace of pain.

"You have any tranquillizers?" He shook his head. "Then, no. I'm just going to sing this song and die slowly..."

He sighed, rose from the bed and got out of the cabin. Was he going to leave me, just like that? What a bitch! I continued singing, feverishly trying to calm myself down.

"Suteki da ne, futari te wo tori aruketa nara. Ikitai yo, kimi no machi ie ude no naka. Sono kao, sotto furete. Asa ni tokeru, yumemiru. Suteki da ne, futari te wo tori aruketa nara. Ikitai yo, kimi no machi ie ude no naka. Sono mune, karada azuke. Yoi ni magire, yumemiru..."

Slowly my voice faded away. A lot of memories of my mother had suddenly washed over me, like the tides of fate. Mum smiling at me, telling me I was a good girl, telling me I was the sweetest little girl in all of Wutai (that was the world for me when I was small), giving me cookies she had baked herself, combing my hair, and oh, those wonderful fairy tales! How I missed her...

I fell backwards, my butt hitting the wooden floor hard, but I didn't care. I was sitting with my legs tightly to my chest, and my arms around them. My hair was falling in my face, but I failed to notice. Crap, crap, crap. Everything in my life was just crap right now. I started to cry, wet sobs that hurt in my whole body. I couldn't remember the last time I had cried. I was really sad when mum died, and I wept rivers of tears, but I just couldn't recall if I had cried after that. But now I did, like a little child. What happened to the Great Ninja Yuffie Kisaragi? She has gone and hid. What about the White rose of Wutai? She's weeping streams of nectar and dew. And The Conqueror of Evil? It seems like when all the evil was conquered, there was much more space for sorrow to conquer her.

Oh, such horrible illusions I saw, sitting there on the floor! I could hear my mother's soft, warm voice calling my name. When I opened my eyes, I saw her standing right in front of me, even though I knew it was naught but a simulacrum. She was smiling, encouraging and warmly, biding me to rise from my low position and take her outstretched hand. But when I did so, she disappeared, leaving me feeling more lonely than ever.

"Mum..." I whispered, new tears running down my cheeks. "Don't leave me."

I buried my face in my arms again, and kept on sobbing. I didn't notice the fact that Vincent was back until he placed his cloak around my shoulders. And also his arm. Vince was actually _touching a human being?_ Wow. I would've laughed out loud and hugged him tightly if I hadn't been so terribly sad.

"Yuffie..." he murmured. "Please don't cry. When _you_ are crying, then something is wrong, very wrong. And I feel unhappy when you are sad."

I lifted my head and looked at him, surprised and confused.

"You're...sad because I am?"

"...You could say that, yes."

"Oh, Vince...how sweet..."

I wrapped my arms around him for the second time this evening, my body shook with sobs. I could feel his hand, his normal one, on my back. Even though my senses were blunt, I could still feel the awkwardness. He was definitely not used to comforting people who felt down. It had always been us who had tried (and most of the times, failed) to cheer him up when he was moping around and being all broody.

Slowly, the tears ceased to leak from my eyes. The sobbing stopped. I let go of Vince, and saw that he was looking at me strangely.

"What?" I asked. He frowned.

"I...I have never seen you like this before, Yuffie. You were always happy and full of joy, cheering up the others when they felt down. And me, too. Tell me, what is it?"

So I told him in detail about all the suitors (and I could swear that he was almost smiling when I said that about me using his vampire-ness as a threat), about how angry I was about having to see yet another one, and then my glee when I found out that he was practically a walking joke, with his name and look and all that. I told him about how I overreacted, my father's rage, how I fled and ran until I saw him. And I told him about how lonely I felt, and how much I missed my mother. He sat all quiet next to me on the floor, and just watched me talking with those red eyes, those _beautiful_ crimson eyes. It reminded me of all those times I had been looking at him without him knowing, just because I wanted to gaze into those blood-coloured orbs. He always looked so calm, so angry and so sad, at the same time. I always wondered how he could do that. I guessed that it was a part of being Vincent.

When I was done, he didn't say anything for a while. Then he asked:

"What do you want to do? Where do you want to go?"

I sniffled a couple of times.

"I wanna go to Edge. I wanna see Teefs and Cloud and Shelke and the kids. I want to live at 7th Heaven. Then I'll be close to my friends, and hopefully I won't feel alone."

He nodded slowly, and looked at me with a gaze that showed...concern? Pity?

"To Edge, then. I have been staying at 7th Heaven myself for a while now."

I nodded, faster than he had done, and suddenly I felt the nausea which I had totally forgotten about in all my sorrow welling up inside me.

"Uuagh", I moaned.

"Here. I got it from the captain." Vince gave me a bottle filled with some emerald-green liquid.

"What is it?" I asked. He grimaced.

"The captain said it would make you feel better. Calm you down. I think it is some kind of liquor. Try it if you want to. I would not."

I unscrewed the cap and sniffed at the liquid. It was alcohol, all right. I took a gulp. It tasted like...mint, strawberries and oranges, and it burned in my throat in a very pleasant way. I quickly drank some more. It actually made me feel better. A lot better. I drank the rest as well, and looked at Vince, smiling. The pain I had felt not long ago was completely washed away.

"Vince, you're blurry!" I happily commented. "And I do feel a lot better, but the world is spinning. Ha ha! It's so funny, you know..." But then I couldn't remember exactly what it was that was funny.

"You should go to sleep", Vince said. Then he straight-out lifted me from the floor, and carried me bridal style to one of the beds, where he dumped me. I immediately curled up to a little, very happy and calm Yuffie-ball. It took me about thirteen seconds to fall asleep, but before I did so, I could swear that I felt Vince's hand stroking my arm.

_**And yeah, so like, stuff. And stuff. Yay. Or something. Anyway it's done. Yay. And stuff. **_

_**Probably gonna buy a PS3 today, meaning I'll be playing Final Fantasy XIII for a while. Update may be very late. I also live half-time with my dad, and he ain't havin' no internet. Yet. Hopefully he will, soon.**_

_**So like, yeah. Update comes when it comes. Logical, eh? **_

_**~ShadedHeart Lamora**_


	3. Chapter 2:Of Murder, Dots, Embarrassment

_**And I'm late. He hee heh. Well, I told you I was going to buy a PS3. So basically, I've been busy playing FFXIII. And I beat it! In just 57 hours! Hooray for me! That's like, reeeeally fast. FFVIII took me 120 hours... FFXII 75h, FFX 80h, FFVII 100+ h, FFIX 70h, FFX-2 85h, DoC 25h, FFVI long time, and I haven't finished the game yet...And yes, I do have all these times in my head. I once checked how much time I've spent on Final Fantasy since February 2009, and I think it was about 700 hours... Probably more, since I've restarted some of the games like, ten times or something. I suck at completing my games.**_

_**Well anyway! It's extra long this time. And there maaay be some fluffish things...**_

**Chapter 2: Of Murder Attempts, Dots and Utter Embarrassment**

I didn't want to wake up. I really didn't. It was warm around me, and I felt all...warm. And cosy. But obviously, that bitch Vince wanted me to wake up. I could feel through the mists of sleep swirling in my head and body how he poked at me.

"Yuffie."

"Nnnhhh..."

"Yuffie. Wake up."

"Nnnoooo...I'm perfectly fine asleep thank you very much."

"Yuffie. You have to wake up. We have arrived."

"I'm sleeping."

"Yes, that is why I am currently waking you up."

"Well stop that."

"No, I will not. Wake up."

"...No."

I turned to the other side, pulled the duvet over my head, and sighed loudly. I was _not_ going to get up just yet. It was way too early. I sleep to like, evening. Then I get up and run around ninja-ing all the night. Well, at least I used to do that. Nowadays I kinda fall asleep at 7 pm and then I sleep all the night. I guess I'm beginning to get old. That sucks! If I get old, then I won't be young any more! That makes sense, doesn't it? But, an old me, it's like...a young Reeve! A happy Cloud! A flat-chested Tifa! Cid without cigarettes! Vince jumping around singing and dancing! Alright, that was a really scary thought. But still, an old Yuffie was simply _unimaginable._

I could hear Vince sigh even louder than I had done. Maybe he had given up? Yuffie versus Vampire of Doom 1-0! Then I felt how he lifted me up, still wrapped in the duvet, and dropped me on the floor.

"Ouch!" I yelled, fighting to get the duvet off me since I couldn't see a thing and it was practically strangling me. I didn't go very well; I only managed to get myself completely entangled and I could hardly breathe.

"Holy Leviathan! Vince I can't breathe help me now I'm dying aaaah!" I screeched.

I felt his hands grabbing the duvet and pulling it off me, leaving me panting on the floor. When I had caught my breath I stared at him hatefully.

"You tried to kill me!"

"...No Yuffie, I did not..."

"Yes you did! Killer! Murderer!"

I realised my mistake, but then it was too late. Vince turned his face away from me, and he looked so sad... I got up, threw my arms around him and hugged him tightly.

"I'm so sorry Vince, I didn't mean to..." I slurred.

"It is nothing." he said, but I could tell that he was lying.

"Yes it was! I'm so sorry, Vinnie, come on, don't be sad, you've felt the sorrow of a hundred of people, you shouldn't have to be sad any more! It's not fair! Stop being sad or I'll be too, and then I'll cry, and you'll be even sadder and blame yourself and go lock yourself in that mouldy old coffin again and then we all will be super sad! So Vince, please, be happy! Can't you smile? You actually look good when you're smiling, and not like a death-zombie-vampire..."

I said all of this very fast, and I was talking into Vinnie's chest. Which was actually really nice, but I didn't understand why. I mean, I had upset him, he was sad, I was sad, then why did it feel so good to stand here, this close to him, feeling the warmth of his body? Strange.

"Yuffie...?" Vince sounded surprised.

"Y-yes?" I sniffled. Oh, come on. I was crying? _Again?_ What was wrong with me?

"...Don't be sad. I am not. The time is past when everything people said and did reminded me of my sins."

"Stop talking about your 'sins'! It wasn't your fault! You've told me about what happened, and I mean, you tried to stop Lucrecia, didn't you? It wasn't your fault... And even if it was, you've repaid your sins a hundred times over again, and you've suffered so much because of it!"

"...Thank you, Yuffie."

And then it happened. Just like that. He placed his arms around my waist. Vincent. Valentine. Was. _Hugging._ Me. It was definitely the biggest Oh My God What The Fuck-moment in my entire life. I froze completely. Then, when I had realised that it was for real, and that I liked it, I started to relax. This was nice! Vinnie was surprisingly warm for being a death-zombie, and the feeling of his hand on my back made a tickling feeling sprout in my stomach. The feeling spread to my head, arms and legs, and I twitched because of the electricity running through my nerves. What was this sensation? I had never felt it before. It was as if the floor beneath my feet was sucked into a void; then me and Vince followed, and in this void there really was nothing except us and the contact between our bodies. I didn't understand why I felt this way. When Vince eventually let go of me, I stood up on my tip-toes and - don't ask me why because I have no frickin' idea – kissed him on his cheek. He looked as surprised as I felt. I could also feel a blush creeping up my face. To hide it, I turned around, took the duvet from the floor, dumped it on the bed and yelled:

"Come on Vince, let's go, before the boat takes us back to Wutai!"

And then I marched out through the door and walked without looking back to see if Vinnie was coming or not through the corridors, firing insane smiles at every sailor I met on the way. They stared at me with big eyes and jumped out of my way, but I didn't care the slightest. I just continued on, feeling like I had either eaten a lot of sugar or been taking drugs. My head was buzzing, it felt as if I was floating a couple of centimetres above the floor, and there was still electricity running through my body. It was so weird! Was it because I had hugged Vince, and he had hugged me back?But...I had done that before, and I did _not_ react like this! Why now? _What was wrong with me?_ It was just too much for me to be able to understand. Even if it felt like an eternity, I eventually reached deck.

The first impression I got was: 'Hell, it's warm here.' It was worse than our bathroom after I had taken one of my very long and very hot showers. It was probably even warmer than Godo when he had walked more than ten steps after each other. The sweaty old man.

My second impression was: 'Damn, it's really a lot of super-muscular men in swimming trunks here'. And super-muscular men in tight swimming trunks makes me feel sick. They're just so...slimy. Because they've got sun lotion all over them. And sun lotion is... just kinda sticky and makes you shine in a greasy way.

My third impression was...well it wasn't really an impression, more like a thought or a wish. 'I wonder how Vinnie would look in swimming trunks.' It made me giggle hysterically. Vince himself came up to me. He had a questioning look, which only made me giggle more.

"...What is so funny?"

"Well," I said and tried to breathe, "I think people would be scared if they saw you in swimming trunks. I don't think they're used to vampire skeletons in that kind of clothing."

And I started giggling again. Vincent just stared at me, and then started walking. I followed him, still tittering.

We got off the boat, and found ourselves standing on the pier. We continued until we reached the beach, and when I felt the sand running away beneath my shoes I suddenly got this urge for bathing.

"Vince, let's go buy swimming suits!" I said as I grabbed his hand and dragged him with me.

"...Why?" He is so clever, that man.

"So that we can swim, maybe? Hello-oo, Vince, I thought that you were intelligent?"

"...I do not swim, Yuffie."

"What, you scared of water? Or maybe you can't swim?"

"That has got nothing to do with it. I...simply do not swim."

"Oh Leviathan, why do I have to have such a boring companion? Well, Vinnie, you can still pay my bikini."

"...How kind of you."

"Yeah, I know. By the way, Vince, did you know that you're the only person I know who is capable of beginning a sentence with silence, or say nothing but still say something?"

"...?"

"...Or not say anything but still make it sound like a question? You truly have skills."

"..."

"And you can be quiet but still sarcastic."

"... ..."

"And you can be quiet for a while just to say nothing later."

"...I think I get it, Yuffie."

"Yeah, but you still begin your answers with silence."

"..."

"..."

"...?"

"...!"

"...'!'?"

"...!"

"I get it, Yuffie.

"Good for you, vamps."

"I am not a vampire, Yuffie..."

"I know. If you were, you'd die in the sunlight or something. You're a zombie of death."

"..."

"Owned, Vince."

"I am...human, at least partly."

"Stop being stupid, Vinnie. Of course you're human. You have feelings, right? And you are capable of planning and doing things in several steps and multi-tasking and such stuff, right? Then you're human."

"Was I not a zombie a couple of seconds ago?"

"Stop being stupid."

I swear, that bitch was smiling. Sometimes I just hate him. Thankfully I didn't feel like I was stunned any more, at least.

"Look! There's a shop, Vince! Let's go buy me a bikini!"

"...Is it not it better to find a boat headed for Edge?"

"Not before I have taken a bath."

And so I forced Vinnie into the shop, where I immediately started looking for a bikini. I found many. I decided to try them on, and headed for the fitting rooms. After telling Vince 'No peeking', which I guess wasn't really needed since not even a hot babe like me could ever make him react with anything else than horror, I entered one. I tried the light blue bikini first, then decided I really didn't like the yellow smiley that was on it. So I took it off, and tried the next one instead. This bikini was dark emerald green with some strange purple swirls. I really liked it, and I was turning around to be able to see it from all points of view in the mirror.

"Vince! I need your opinion!"

I got out from the cabin. Vince glanced at me for maybe a half nano-second, then turned his head away.

"What? It's not good?"

"...It is."

"Ooh! I get it! You think it's embarrassing because you think I have too little clothes on!"

"..."

"You're seriously the strangest dude ever. Y'know, most guys think girls in bikinis are hot."

"..."

"Aw gosh. Just tell me the truth, does it really look good on me? I want you to take another look, a _real_ one before answering!"

Vincent turned around in a stiff way, he looked like a robot that wanted to be anywhere but here. When he _finally_ had gotten all the way around so that he was facing me, his eyes fixed on a spot somewhere over my left shoulder. He was standing with his arms crossed over his chest and his jaw tightly clenched. I sighed loudly.

"Vince, I want you to look at _me_, not at the wall..."

I could hear a whistle. When I looked around after the source of the sound, I saw three young men, about my age, staring at me.

"Hey pretty lady!" one of them shouted. When he heard that, Vince turned around and shot one of his death-stares at them. They looked a little scared at first, but then they puffed themselves up like rutting toads and started laughing.

"Oi, babe, ditch the vampire-guy and come with us! We know how to have fun..." They made some obscene gestures, which made Vinnie growl. Since I feared that he would bring Cerberus out and shoot their heads off, I put my hand on his and mumbled:

"Stay calm, Vince. Killing people just like that isn't legal. At all." When Vince didn't seem to be convinced that murder wasn't the right choice, I waved at the three young men and yelled:

"No thanks, I think I prefer to stay here with my husband!"

Oh, what wouldn't I give to have a photo of their faces when I said that! They all stared at me, shocked, in horror, disbelieving.

"Your_ what?_" Vince whispered.

"You're _married_ to that guy? Eww, gross! He's what, twice as old as you?"

"Actually, I'm twenty and he's sixty-one...that makes thrice as old!"

Oh, their faces! _Their faces!_ Completely and utterly grossed out.

"Well...bye then!" one of the guys said, and then they very quickly disappeared.

I looked at Vince, triumphantly.

"Good job." he mumbled. "The bikini suits you. Are we finished here now?"

-TWR&TH-

When we finally arrived at the beach, it was packed with people. I swore a little, and then started scouting for a free spot. I managed to find one, and led Vince there.

"Good it's so warm that I don't need a bath towel, or you'd have to pay for that too!" I said happily.

"Hn."

"You have enough money to buy tickets for the boat to Edge, right?"

"I do. But you do know that we have to take a boat to Kalm, and then walk to Edge?"

"Mmm. It's hard to get to Edge by boat when it's several miles from the sea, right? Well, nothing like a little old-times trekking in the wilderness! Brings back memories... you remember that time when Cloud saw a really big dragon that was strolling around near Icicle Inn, and tried to sneak past it, but tripped and fell and screamed like a girl and then we had to run like hell from it...? Ah, those were good times!"

"I do remember. I also remember that you were so scared that you laughed hysterically until the dragon stopped chasing us. And when we stopped you fell and landed with your face down in the snow, still laughing."

"W-what? I was...merely laughing in the face of death!"

"No, you were not. When you got up from the snow, your eyes were red. You had been crying. We could all see that you were terrified, even if Cloud was too. And I actually do remember him screaming... 'like a girl', as you say. Afterwards Cid and Barret laughed at the whole thing, and teased Cloud and you for a week..."

"Vincent! I would _never ever_ get so scared of a normal stupid dragon that I'd cry! I don't cry! I'm a ninja!"

Vinnie looked at me in that strange way he had done several times recently.

"...You cried on the boat."

"B-but that's got nothing to do with it! I'm gonna go swim now. Don't wither in the sun now, vamps."

And thus I left him.

The water was so much better as company than that ol' coffin-whore! I dunno for how long I was swimming, but it must've been several hours. When I eventually got up and returned to the zombie in clown boots, he looked moodier than ever.

"Mmm, the water was great! You're really stupid who's sitting here in warm clothes..."

And then I realised that he had taken off his cloak. Oh. Holy. Leviathan. He had taken off his bandana too, his hair now falling freely like a opal waterfall down his shoulders and back. In the reddish sunlight, he reminded me of the fire spirits Chekov showed me in a book once when I was little.

He had heard me, of course, and raised his head to look at me. I had stopped, surprised by the fact that he had taken some clothes off, and now I saw a fire burning in his eyes. It wasn't the normal fire, visible whenever he was pissed, the one that told you to get the hell outta there as soon as possible, otherwise he'd shoot you head off. No, this one was definitely different. I could see flames dancing in those crimson orbs, sparkling and shimmering, and it was absolutely enchanting. I guess I was staring, for Vincent got a confused look on his face. But I just couldn't take my eyes off his! I guess it was the setting sun that made his eyes blaze like that, but it really looked like two blood-stained rubies on fire. A light breeze made his hair swirl, and just like the flames it danced, twisting and waving, like pitch black straws bowing for the wind, embracing two crimson roses.

"What is it, Yuffie?" he asked. His voice didn't break the spell, more like strengthened it.

I didn't think. I wasn't aware of what I was doing when I answered. I just said it.

"You're so beautiful, Vince..."

When I saw his surprised face, I realised what I had done. I felt a huge blush creep up over my cheeks, my whole face heated and I made a strange, suffocated sound. Vince narrowed his eyes, and looked like he didn't believe me at all. But when he saw that I wasn't grinning or laughing, but instead blushing and gaping like a fish on dry land, his eyes got all big and he looked even more unbelieving. I realised that I had never seen him look like this before, with the almost childish surprise and disbelief in his pale face. This was like, the most awkward moment in my entire life. Worse than that time when I tripped on a log in the Gongaga jungle and managed to put my hand in Cloud's crotch. Worse than that time when I _accidentally _pushed Tifa and made her fall into a big pool of water near Bone Village, so that her top became completely see-through. Worse than that time I shoved Nanaki and Cait Sith together, and the flames on Nanaki's tail made Cait's fur catch fire and we had to throw him into a river which made him sparkle and twitch for a week. And if something is worse than those things, it's really bad. I simply had to explain, and clear myself of the terrible, terrible shame.

"I, ah, uh, you were like, d'uuh, looking strange in the sunlight, and, like, what I'm saying is that, er, the sun made, umm, and the fire was like, aah, I saw a picture in a book, eeh, and when Cloud got a nosebleed because of Tifa's boobs, like, and, it's, I mean..."

Vinnie just stared at me. It seemed like he hadn't understood a single word of what I was talking about. Strange. I thought my explanation made perfect sense. Well, this was getting me nowhere.

"Vince, the sun made you eyes look really pretty, like rubies on fire, and your hair's beautiful too when it's dancing in the air and stuff, and I got a little hypnotised, can we leave now?"

-TWR&TH-

We were both silent all the way back to the centre of town. I decided that talking about something else probably would make Vince forget. And me, too.

"Hey Vince, where we gonna sleep? Or are we taking a boat this evening?"

Vince glanced at me. He had put on his cloak and bandana again, which made me disappointed (though of course I didn't tell him), because it was so nice to see him without them for once. His eyes said that he had not forgotten about my folly.

"What do you think is the best?" he asked, still glancing in a way I did _not_ like.

"Dunno. Maybe sleep first? Where we gonna stay? The inn? Wait... Heey, doesn't Cloud own a house here?"

"...He does. He bought it for 300 000 gil."

"Whoo, that's a lotta money. But well, we were really rich back then. Could sell an All materia for almost one-and-a-half million. Can we get in there?"

"I think so. I believe Cloud left the key with the pub owner. We can ask him for it."

So we trotted to the pub, went inside and asked a waitress for the owner. She led us to him, and we asked our question.

"Part of the AVALANCHE, eh? Well, I believe ya. I think I remember you, you were with the porcupine guy, eh?" he said and stared at Vince. Then he dug in one of his pockets, and handed us a big, old-fashioned key in silver.

"You ain't lyin', eh?" he asked.

"Nope, we're not", I said.

"Well, take care of it, eh?" he said.

"We will," I assured him. "Come on Vinnie."

We went to the villa, and I unlocked the door. When we entered, a smell of stagnant air hit us. I locked the door behind us, rushed into the bedroom and threw myself on the biggest bed.

"Mine!" I exclaimed.

"..." was all the zombie vampire could say. Mm, he's so talkative.

"Hey Vince, there's any food here?"

"After four years? I would not believe so."

"Then why don't you go buy some." It was an order, not a question. I could practically _hear_ him death-stare me. Then he 'Hn':ed and went away.

I fell asleep while he was away, and I didn't wake up until he tapped me shoulder.

"Yuffie. I have bought food."

"Mmgreat," I mumbled into the pillow. "Does it need cooking?"

"No."

"Good, because you would've had to do it. Let's eat."

Vince's food consisted of bread, apples, ready-to-eat sausages and water from the tap. It wasn't the best I had eaten, but not before now had I realised that I hadn't eaten for a very long time, and that I was really hungry. I practically threw the food in my mouth and swallowed without chewing. This made Vinnie look at me and say:

"Yuffie, you will choke if you keep on doing like that."

"Whlfavvha."

"Excuse me?"

I chewed and swallowed.

"Whatever."

-TWR&TH-

When I woke up the following morning I felt that the pillow was wet. I could also feel that my cheeks had a covering of salt. Had I been crying in my sleep? Why? Then I remembered that I had dreamt about my mother, that she was smiling at me and calling me her beloved, sweet and beautiful daughter, but then faded away into darkness. I had tried to grab her hand, I reached for her, but she vanished into nothing. The only thing she said was 'I am naught but a simulacrum, Yuffie'.

I sniffled, and wiped my face with the duvet. Then I got up from the bed, yawned and stretched and felt how the sad feelings began to disappear. My mother had been dead for a long time, and nothing would ever change that. Nothing.

I had closed my eyes while stretching, and when I opened them I saw Vince looking at me with complete and utter horror in his face. I was just going to ask him what his problem was, when I realised that I was wearing nothing but panties and bra. And Vince had seen me. For several seconds.

First I froze completely. I just stared at him, my eyes wide open. Then my brain started working again.

"_AAAAAAAAAAHHH!_" I swear that my scream was worse than that of a banshee.

My next move was to turn around, grab my pillow and throw it at Vince. It hid his head, hard, since he had nowhere to escape. He huffed, and I grabbed one of my shoes from the floor and threw it at him as well. Then followed the other shoe, a Restore materia, a vase, the silver key, a book that was lying on the small table beside my bed, and an apple that I had decided to save as night snack but never ate. Then I had to breathe since I had forgotten to do so since my scream. Vincent managed to dig himself out from the pile of things I had thrown at him, and he was not happy.

"Yuffie. What do you gain from throwing things at me?"

"You saw!"

"Yes, I did. It was not intentional, and I am sorry."

"But _you saw!_"

"..."

"I'll kill you!"

"...I saw you in bikini yesterday..."

"It's not the same thing!"

"Basically, it is."

"No it's not!I swear I'll kill you!"

Vince just sighed. At least he wasn't looking at me any more. I tried to figure out what to do. Then I came up with something good. He was so going to pay for this...

I went out to the kitchen, without bothering about putting on some clothes. There, I filled a bowl with water. Vincent was going to be a wet vampire. I returned to the bedroom, and to my joy was he still facing the other wall. I sneaked up next to his bed, aware of the fact that he could hear me but didn't want to turn around since he knew that I still wasn't wearing anything except underwear. Then, I quickly, with awesome and amazing ninja speed, I pulled the duvet off him and emptied the bowl over him. He made a very un-Vincent-y sound and sat up with inner demon speed, completely drenched. I started laughing hysterically.

"In your face! _In your face!_ That's for looking at me when I'm not dressed! So, how did it fee...eel?"

Then I realised that he wasn't wearing his shirt, and that his torso was bare.

"Eel..ah, ah, eh..." My laughter died completely.

There is a very interesting phenomena that makes the eyes of all nearby women draw to the naked torso of a handsome man, if one is present. This applies for ninja as well. Even if the man in question is a half-zombie half-vampire with such a non-existing tan that it practically makes him invisible, even if the man has demons living inside of his body, even if he is a close friend and a war buddy. Even if he is Vincent 'Death-stare' Valentine. So yeah, I was staring at Vinnie's chest, while making squeaking noises. Because hell, was that a pretty sight. Muscles... it can make any girl feel like she's in heaven.

But it didn't take me more than maybe a second to realise that his whole torso was marked with white scars. I had completely forgotten about the fact that I was in nothing but underwear, and that he was bare-chested, and that he was sitting in a _bed_. I sat down next to him, staring.

"Oh Vinnie, did...did Hojo do that to you?"

Vince nodded slowly. I raised my hand and traced one of the scars, the biggest one, stretching from his left shoulder to his right side in level with his waist, with a trembling finger. The sensation gave me goosebumps.

"Poor, poor Vinnie..." I mumbled, suddenly feeling very sad for him. So I did what felt natural. I hugged him really hard. He inhaled very quickly, probably out of surprise, and got as stiff as an iron stick. I didn't let go of him, it felt nice to be this close to him, like on the boat, only better. Because this time I could actually feel his skin and...wait. That sounded all...sexy. And that was just wrong. Vince was my buddy, and you don't give your buddies sexy hugs. Or do you? Or was he? I was confused. And when I'm confused, I want something stable to hold on to. Vince felt stable, so I hugged him even harder.

"Poor Vince..." I murmured. "How could he do that to you? You would've been so pretty..."

"...Yuffie?" Oops. Maybe I should learn not to say such things.

I opened my eyes, that I had closed. What I saw was Vincent's bare chest. What I felt was me, wearing far too few clothes. What I though was: I think I just managed to embarrass myself again.

I immediately let go of Vince.

"I'm sorry! It's just that, ehh, I felt so sorry for you and..."

"...Don't worry. I understand."

"Umm... Good! Now I'll just get dressed and then we're leaving right because it's too hot here and I really wanna see Tifa and Cloud and the kids and Shelke again so let's just take the first boat outta here okay?"

Why do I always talk without pauses whenever I'm stressed up or embarrassed? Everyone notices, everyone knows. Sometimes it's not good being Yuffie Kisaragi.

_**Um, will you forgive me for being late, now that this chapter's extra long? Please?**_

_**Anyway, Yuffie's the ultimate expert in embarrassing herself, since Vincent is far too smexy for the good of all females in the entire universe. Well, I'll try to be faster with updates. Hopefully I'll complete the next chapter this weekend, and maybe even start with the one after that. Hopefully. Maybe.**_

_**Well, whatever. Fluff. Gotta love it. Makes me fangirlsession. I want to hug half-naked Vincent too! Not fair. Anyway, we're beginning to get somewhere. Next chapter: Arrival in Edge. Whoo, exciting! Well, review, and I'll reward you with Freymarant cuteness. Yay at Freymarant! They're so my fave pairing.**_

_**Oh, and BTW, sorry if my grammar is extra horrible. It's late, I'm tired. But at least I finished it.**_

_**~Shade Lamora**_


	4. Chapter 3: Arrival in Edge

_**Gwaahh, I'm much later than I thought I would be. But mum stole the computer when I was in the like, biggest writing mood ever, because a friend had been announced dead on Facebook when he was very alive, and she had to help him. But well, it's quite long this time too, actually longer than I intended it to be. I just couldn't make it shorter without rushing. Well I hope that you'll like it :3**_

_**DISCLAIMER: Yeah I know I forgot the last one, or did I? Don't remember. Anyway, I don't own FFVII. Is this even necessary?**_

**Chapter 3: Arrival in Edge**

We found a boat. We (coughVincentcough) paid for the tickets. We got aboard, we found our cabin, we departed. Or rather, the boat departed. And then I spent my whole day first throwing up my breakfast (why oh why did I eat anything at all?), then my 'dinner' from yesterday, then everything I had ever eaten. After that, I continued with my guts, my stomach, my lungs and I swear I could even feel how the ring I swallowed when I was three travelled up my throat.

People kept away from me, staring in a very rude way. I stood leaning over the railing, enriching the sea with the contents of my body. Vince was probably brooding in the cabin or something, wanting to keep as much distance between himself and me as possible. I thought is was a splendid idea; I did _not_ want to embarrass myself any more. But hey, I'm a girl, he's a man, he's got a nice body and well... you can't expect me to stay calm when he's half-naked or when his eyes are being enchanting, right? Still nonetheless, it was liberating to not have him standing somewhere near, glancing at me every other second and reminding me more than necessary. Because I _did_ remember. I did. And every time I thought of any of those incidents from yesterday, my face got beet red and I just wanted to throw my brain up, because then I wouldn't have to deal with this terrible shame.

"Mum, why is the girl puking?"

"I think she suffers from motion sickness, the poor thing."

"Why?"

"Well because... some people can't stand the motions of a boat, it makes them feel sick and throw up."

I turned my head. A little boy, maybe five years old, was staring at me, his mother looking compassionate. The child's eyes were blue as the sky, and I have never seen such an innocent gaze. He let go of his mother's hand, which he had been holding on to, and moved very slowly towards me. When he stood about one-and-a-half metres away from me, he tilted his head to one side and asked:

"Don't you have a mother who can make you become good when you're sick?"

Such an innocent question, from an innocent child. I shook my head a little.

"No. I don't."

"Don't you have a father?"

"...Yes, I do, but... He doesn't like me very much."

"Why?"

"Well, we...disagree quite often, and then we fight. That's why I'm here, because I ran from home."

"Don't you miss him?" the boy asked, his eyes wide. "I miss my dad. He's in Kalm, so when I get home I'll see him again. That makes me happy. I think my dad misses me too."

I smiled a little at him.

"Then your dad's better than mine. No, I don't miss mine. I'm with a friend, so I'm not feeling lonely. And I'm going to see some other friends as well, and hopefully they'll let me stay with them. At least they like me. I think."

"I think they like you, you're nice. And...and..." the boy blushed furiously. "You're pretty too."

This actually made me laugh. I took two steps, so that I was standing in front of him, crouched down and looked at him. He was still red in his face, and glanced shyly at me from beneath his fringe. I ruffled his hair.

"Thank you. I bet your dad will be happy to see you too. And I hope that my friends will be happy to see me. I'm looking forward to see them, at least. And even if they throw me out, I still have my companion. Sure, we fight sometimes too, but he's nice. Much nicer than he wants me to believe."

"So your friend's a guy? Do you love him?"

"W-what? Well, I guess I do...as a friend, I mean. You love your friend and your parents, right? Well, I love him because he's my best friend."

"Oh. Does he love you?"

"I...I don't know. I hope so. Well, at least he doesn't hate me, because then he wouldn't have paid my ticket or come with me. But sometimes I think that he just thinks I'm a pain. I need him more than he needs me, because he's so much stronger than me."

The little boy looked at me with a very serious gaze, and nodded solemnly.

"Then why aren't you with him?"

"Because...because I embarrassed myself yesterday, so I'd better keep some space between us for a while."

"Why don't you just go say you're sorry for what you did and then you'll be friends again?"

"Mm... I don't know. Maybe."

"Damehr, let's go eat something in the café!"

The boy turned around and nodded when his mother called. Then he faced me anew.

"It was nice to talk to you, miss," he squeaked. "But I've gotta go."

"My name's Yuffie."

"Okay, thank you Yuffie. I think... I think that you should go talk to your friend. And even if your father doesn't like you, your mother will still be watching you from heaven, right?"

And then he left. I sat down on the floor, staring after him. Such a little kiddo, and yet such wisdom! And he had understood that my mum was dead, too. Maybe I should follow his advise, and go talk to Vince. Tell him that I really wasn't myself yesterday, that I probably had been a little too much with all these memories of my mother washing over me all of a sudden. But not just yet. I had to calm myself down a bit first. The conversation with Damehr had shaken me some, and I needed to sort everything out first. Split the words and sentences up, and put then in different boxes inside my head, to be able to take care of it later on. Probably during my sleep, and then it would end up with me having strange dreams.

I closed my eyes, tied to make the motions of the rocking boat disappear. At least it didn't matter if I got nauseous, because I had nothing to throw up any more. Not even bile.

"I'm so gonna have such kids when I get older..." I mumbled to myself. "My kids are going to be smart and cool and awesome and stuff. They're going to be great ninja. I'm gonna teach them everything I know. How to dress when you wanna be one with the night, how to fight with shuriken, maybe even ninja swords... How to sneak, how to steal, how to get back to safety when you're done with your ninja-ing... Everything."

When I opened my eyes again I saw a lot of people staring at me. They probably thought I was crazy because of the fact that I just had been talking to myself.

"What?" I yelled, waving my arms. "Is there a law that says you can't talk to yourself or think aloud? Is there? _Is there?_"

They turned away from me, some of them looking a bit scared. Oh great. Now they thought that I was crazy _and_ aggressive. I didn't feel like staying on deck, with all people glancing at me and whispering about me. I got up from the floor and headed for the door to the corridor with the cabins. When I had reached the door to my cabin, or rather my and Vince's cabin, the ship _practically _keeled over. I fell, on the door which flew open, continued through the air and landed on the floor.

"Ouch!"

I got up, rubbing my head since it hurt. When I raised my gaze, I saw Vinnie looking at me with concern in his eyes.

"Are you hurt?"

"No...I just hit my head and it hurts like hell..."

He stopped looking concerned. Such a bitch he is, that vampire.

"Umm, Vinnie...?"

"Yes?"

"..."

It was really hard to say what I wanted to say. I didn't want to embarrass myself again.

"I... I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for what I did yesterday. I haven't been myself...and...I hope that you'll understand how I feel. I just got...kinda carried away, y'know? Because..."

Because why? Why did I feel so lonely? Why did I want to be with Vincent, be close to him, all of a sudden? I think I knew. The hard part was to tell Vince. Should I? Should I not? Would he understand? Would he think that I was being childish and ridiculous? There were too many questions! I hate it when I have questions that I can't answer. But maybe my questions would be answered if I told Vinnie? What if he held the key to my strange behaviour and emotional outbreaks?

"What is it, Yuffie? You look troubled. Is there something on your mind?"

"Well..." I began. "I guess you could say that I'm going through a rough period right now..."

I was interfered by a young man's voice from the corridor.

"What, you having your monthlies?"

And then laughter, from at least three people. I could feel a huge blush spread over my face. The door was still open, and some guys had obviously heard what me and Vince had been saying.

"Shut up you bastards!" I yelled and spun around. I got out in the corridor, just in time to see three or four guys in my age rushing through the door leading out to deck, roaring with laughter. Furiously I re-entered the cabin and shut the door. Just to be safe, I locked it too.

"That was _not_ what I was going to say", I growled.

"...I understand that, Yuffie. What was it? Something is bothering you, I can see that."

"Well..." I began again. "I-I've felt so lonely these past days. Like I told you yesterday, I started thinking of my mother, and how kind and gentle she always was when I was little, and now she's gone... And I really don't have any _real_ parent left, 'cause dad sucks major. He's no good at comforting or cheering up. All he does is yell and rant, and telling me what a dishonourable daughter I am. Sometimes he says that he'd rather give the throne to any random Wutai youth he could find on the street than to me. And... it breaks me down, Vince! I didn't have my mum for a very long time when I was a child, I don't have her now, then when am I going to have her? When am I going to have a mother? There are times when I don't want to be an expert ninja, but instead a little child, I wanna be able to sit closely to mum and hear her fairy tales again... But I can't! I can never ever do that again! And in Wutai, which is my _home_, no matter how many times I run away from there, I have no real friends! Sure, I have Yuri, but we began to become more distant to each other a year ago, and now he never visits any more, and I don't have any other friends, and I'm afraid of being alone because I've been just that for a long time now and..."

Tears started to run down my cheeks.

"...And I know we're going to Edge and Tifa and Cloud and we're gonna be a family right? Like we were during the wars. But it's not gonna be the same thing, 'cause even if Tifa tried to be everyone's mum she can't replace mine, and I still have no proper dad and I never had any sisters or brothers to fight with and tease and laugh with... I have no real family, Vince!"

When I had stopped I just stood there on the floor, sobbing, looking at Vince who looked back at me.

"Yuffie," he said, "even if you do not have any parents or siblings, you have us, and we will always be your family. It is not the same thing, I know. But we will make our best to be good replacements. You have always fought me, Cloud, Barret and Cid as if we were your brothers. And what happened to the strong and independent Wutai youth who used to fight alongside me? She didn't need a family, as long as she had materia, shuriken and her friends, am I right? Why don't you go find her and ask her for help? I am sure that she can aid you."

"No, she can't. All she needed was materia, shuriken and friends. But I want a family. A real one. Either a mum to take care of me, or...or a child for me to take care of. A family of my own, since I haven't had any for a very long time. That's what I want. Materia can't give me happiness any more. Shuriken can't give me peace any more. Friends...friends can't give me company any more. I want something more than that. I-I'm sorry, Vince."

Vincent got up from the bed he had been sitting on. He stood in front of me, looking at me, and to my surprise he was almost smiling. Well, he didn't look completely and utterly depressed at least.

"Yuffie," he said, and there was an excitement in his voice which I had never heard before, "you were always the youngest in our team. You were always the most immature. But now... Now I believe that you have started to grow up. That you have started to become an adult. This is a big step. Even though you still have your childish humour and the emotional outbursts of a teenager, is the fact that you talk about family replacing your beloved materia proof of that you have begun to be more of a grown-up. You act more like you are twenty now, than you acted like sixteen in the first Jenova war. I... I am happy for you."

"W-what? I have begun to become an adult?"

"Yes, it would seem like it. When you learn to cope with the pain from the emptiness where your mother should have been, and when you learn how to take care of others who cannot do that by themselves, I believe that you will be grown up."

I was completely speechless. Vincent Valentine, Lord of Depression and Angst, was telling me that I was beginning to become mature, and act like a twenty-year-old should. This was like, the most unimaginable thing that had ever happened in the history of mankind. The only thing that would surprise me more was if Godo called me and begged me to come back, since I was his beloved daughter, promising to treat me like a princess if I did so. Then again, I already am a princess, but whatever. Or maybe I'd be more shocked if Cid decided to ditch smoking, marry Barret, adopt Reeve and devote his life to building exact Kadaj models in natural size with only matches, saliva and pink spray colour. Yeah, that'd be pretty random. And pretty fucking scary, too.

"Vincent... Did you really mean what you just said?" I asked, amazed. Vinnie nodded.

"Yes Yuffie, I meant every single word. It was the truth I told you, not just something I made up in order to make you feel better."

I had almost forgotten that I was sad. I wiped the tears away from my cheeks, sniffled one last time and returned to staring at Vince.

"Wow... You have never given me that much credit ever before, vamps. Thanks, really." I smiled faintly. The corners of his moth twitched, as if he was going to smile back at me but then remembered that he didn't to such things.

"It is good to see you smile again, Yuffie. It was actually worth the effort of putting so many words together."

I gaped, and ogled at him with eyes as big as Sephiroth's god complex.

"Did... Did you just joke?" I inquired, completely shocked. He watched me with his usual coldness.

"...Maybe."

"Wow, Mouldie, you're beginning to act like a normal guy! That means we're going through the same process. Yay for us!" I clapped my hands and laughed. All my sorrow was completely washed away. If only the nagging feeling of nausea dancing tango in my stomach could to the same thing... even if I wasn't throwing up any more, I still didn't feel well at all.

"Ugh... Well Vinnie, do you know when we're arriving in Kalm?"

"...I think it will take several hours."

"Aaaaoow... I think I'll go hit my head in a wall in the meantime. Hopefully, I won't feel the motion sickness if I do. But I'll get a headache instead. Which do you think is better?

-TWR&TH-

When we finally arrived in Kalm, I was so happy that I could almost kiss the ground. Almost. The ground was in fact quite muddy since a lot of people had been walking here, and it seemed to have rained newly. So instead I just inhaled the fresh air, and enjoyed the feeling of solid ground beneath my feet.

"Aaahh... Mmmm... Hey Vince, how far from here to Edge?"

"I don't know. But it should take us around five hours to walk there."

"Aww... Can we eat first? I'm hungry!"

"...We could go to the pub and eat something, if you really need it."

"Yeah, I 'really need it'! I'm starving! I've thrown up everything I ate for breakfast, and I can't walk or fight any monsters at all if I'm hungry! That's Yuffie policy!"

Vince sighed.

"All right. We go to the pub, you get something to eat, can we leave after that?"

"Yes."

"Good."

We went to the pub, where I spent fifteen minutes on choosing what I wanted. But hey, it was really hard! I mean, bean stew is like, really good if you're hungry, and it tastes good too, but pancakes with whipped cream and strawberry jam... It's just heavenly! I eventually decided to take the pancakes. Real food was something I was going to get everyday at 7th Heaven anyway.

"I want pancakes with extra cream, extra jam and extra pancakes!"

Vince just glared at me. I guess he wasn't all too happy about having to pay for all my extra food. I didn't care; it wasn't _my_ money!

Anyway, after a bit o' waiting, I got my pancakes, and started eating right away, with an irritated Vince still glaring at me and sighing every other second. After a while I got seriously tired of him.

"Oh but come on Vince! I have to eat, I'm not an undead like you, plus you didn't puke on the boat! And like I said; I can't fight with an empty stomach! I also get whiny. You wouldn't want a whining me with you, now would you? No, I didn't think so. So stop glaring, shut the fuck up with your sighs and let me eat in peace!"

Actually, he stopped glaring, shut the fuck up with his sighs, and let me eat in peace, until I was ready to leave.

When we got out from Kalm, I looked around me, saw the vast plains, the blue sky, the hills and valleys, reminding me of an emerald-green, wavy sea. I happily skipped forwards. Wutai and my sucky old dad seemed so far away now, here under the sapphire sky I was free, and no-one could catch me here! I couldn't resist the urge to laugh out loud; I did somersaults and turned cart-wheels.

"Come on, Vinnie! Let's hurry!" I shouted to Vince, who was a short distance after me. He looked as if he was going to say 'You were the one who wanted to stop and eat in Kalm', so I started singing to keep him quiet. Sometimes he was better when he did so, and this grassland reminded me of a song I learned in Wutai when I was a little girl.

"_Feel the spirits of nature;_

_In the sunlight warming your body,_

_In the winds soothing your skin,_

_In the water moistening your mouth,_

_In the earth beneath your feet_

_This world you wander,_

_This air you breathe,_

_In whose purity you find the energy of life,_

_Will forever keep you in Her mull_

_When your time ends_

_Feel the grass caressing your feet,_

_It's the blessing of the earth!_

_See the birds soar through the skies,_

_It's the blessing of the heavens!_

_Cool you body in clear water,_

_It's the blessing of Leviathan_"

I sighed. Actually, I kinda missed Wutai. After all, it was my home. Vincent's voice interrupted my thoughts.

"That was beautiful, Yuffie. Was it a Wutai song?"

"Yes." I answered, sounding nostalgic. "My mother used to sing it when I was little. She said it was an ancient song, that the Wutai soldiers used to sing before going to battle, to remind them of the land they were fighting for, the land they protected with their lives. It was also supposed to make them strong, and think of the royal family, that had Leviathan's blessing. I don't know how old it is, but it's gotta be several hundreds of years..."

Vince nodded a little. So much for my grand speech.

"So, Vince, what kind of music do you like? Emo music? Or classical?"

"I...really do not know. I never listen to music."

"Yeah but, what about before you...you know. When you were in the Turks, didn't you listen to music then?"

"...No."

"Oh gawsh, you're boring. I bet you even Barret listens to music. I can just imagine him singing along in some gospel song..."

"Is that not a bit...prejudicing?"

"No! Barret has got to listen to gospel! Cid probably likes rock, Teef pop, Reeve classical, Cloud emo, Nanaki instrumental stuff, y'know pipes and reeds and that kind of old instruments that no one plays any more."

"And what about you?"

"Me? I listen to Wutai music! It's the best. But anything with a catchy tune will do."

"Hn."

"You're such a great company, Mouldie."

"..."

"Exactly my point."

-TWR&TH-

Vince kept on being _extremely_ social (hear the irony, I beg of you hear the irony!) all the way to Edge. We didn't encounter many monsters, and those we did meet were weak and were totally owned by me and my awesome ninja skills. Sure, Vinnie helped too, but I'm the awesome part of our team, he's the boring one. He could probably bore anything to death, including a pair of sweaty socks. Well, they're probably pretty un-living already, but whatever. That just proves how utterly boring Vince can be.

When we _finally_ entered the city, I felt a jolt of energy running through my veins. I was so happy about seeing Boobs and Cloud and Shelke again! I hadn't seen them for almost a year, I realised. That's waaay too long time. I started bouncing forwards, like a proud chocobo that has just won the Gold Saucer chocobo race, happily squeaking and telling Vince to move his slow ass faster. My patience was probably still somewhere out there, on the plains. If I ever had any. Anyway, it wasn't present right now.

We followed the signs pointing in the direction of the town centre with the Meteor monument. From there it wasn't hard to find 7th Heaven, since it's on one of the broadest streets leading to the plaza.

"Teef is going to be _so_ surprised", I said cheerily, as I opened the door.

There weren't very many customers, probably because it was a Thursday and quite late. Tifa looked up from behind the bar, and when she saw who it was her dark, warm eyes grew wide.

"Yuffie! Vincent!" she screamed, and rushed towards us. I laughed aloud, and bounced forwards. We met on the middle, and immediately threw our arms around each other, jumping up and down and laughing.

"I'm so glad to see you!" I yelled.

"Me too!" she howled.

"Tifa...?" Chocoass had arrived. I could see his surprised face over Teef's shoulder. Then he started to smile. Sheez, Cloud's really hot when he smiles! Too bad Tifa's already taken him.

"Vincent." The two men shook hands, and the porcupine's smile was completely genuine. He really was happy to see us.

I let go of Tifa, who literally shone.

"I'm so glad I'm here, Teef! Where's Shelke? And the kiddos?"

Tifa laughed.

"The 'kiddos' are upstairs, sleeping. After all, they've got to get up early to go to school. Shelke is out right now, but she should be back any minute. Are you hungry?"

"Mmyes, at least I am. Tough trip you know, I had to spend my time together with the Zombie of Death here."

Tifa giggled like a schoolgirl, tried to say something that was probably meant to be 'That wasn't very nice at all, Yuffie' but she just managed to choke herself. I started to giggle too, and soon we were both standing in the middle of 7th Heaven laughing our asses off, and we just couldn't stop. It was such a wonderful feeling to be here again, among friends. Vince and Chocoass just stared at us, and so did the three or four other men sitting around one of the tables.

"Ah-ahaha! I'm- I'm so glad that you're here, Yuffie! Haha! Ha...ha...ha... I'll go fix you some food. Ha, hah."

"The women have gone crazy", Cloud muttered.

"I love you too, Chocoass", I said.

I went to the bar counter and placed my sexy ninja ass on one of the stools. Vince joined me, and Cloud went to behind the bar and sat down on a chair there.

"So, how's it goin', Spikey?" I asked. Cloud smiled a little and shrugged.

"As usual. Tifa's got a lot of job in the bar, and I'm still a delivery boy, even though I'm not working as much as before. I gotta be home to take care of the kids when Shelke's out and Tifa's working."

"Such a perfect home-husband. Except for the 'husband' part. You haven't married without telling me, have you?"

Cloud blushed so much he was redder than Vinnie's cloak.

"No, we haven't. Don't be stupid, Yuffie."

"I'm not being stupid!" I yelled. "You're the ones being stupid! I mean come on, you've been in love with each other for ages, you're both just too idiotic and dumbass to realise it! Get a grip, man, and go propose to Tifa."

Cloud gaped like a fish, still beet red. I rolled my eyes, and decided to take this step on my own.

"Tifa! Do you want to marry Cloud? All you have to do is say 'Yes'!"

From the kitchen a small squeak could be heard. And then it sounded like Tifa dropped something.

"Oopsie", I said, grinning widely as Cloud got up from the chair to go help Tifa, then remembered that he still looked like an over-heated tomato and sat down again, glaring at me.

"I will kill you in your sleep, even if you are a princess", he hissed. I just grinned even more widely.

The door opened, and when I turned around I saw Shelke, her blue eyes wide out of surprise, dressed in a green t-shirt and brown shorts.

"Shelkie! My favourite ex-enemy!" I sang as I jumped down from the stool and rushed towards her. I didn't give her any time to answer, but instead hugged her so hard she let out a suffocated sound. Then I realised that I didn't have to bend down to hug her. She was taller.

"Shelke! You're almost as tall as me! What've you done?"

Shelke smiled, her eyes shining with joy.

"Good to see you again, Yuffie Kisaragi. And you too, Vincent Valentine." She was still addressing people with both names? Sheez. "And yes, I have grown. It is because of mako. The scientists at the WRO Headquarters put a container in my arm, it looks like a little stick, look."

She put her thumb and index finger at the skin of her left upper arm, and pressed. The shape of something small and thin got visible. It really looked like a stick, and I guess I stared at it, because Shelke started laughing.

"It constantly sends out a small amount of mako in my body. It is refined mako, which helps me grow faster. I would guess I am as tall as a sixteen-year-old by now."

"Yeah, you probably are," I muttered, "and I've only grown two centimetres since I was sixteen. You think they could give me some special mako in a stick, too?"

She laughed, and I felt how happy I was because of that. Shelke laughed and acted like any normal girl. Well, at least almost.

Tifa got out from the kitchen. She smiled at Shelke, while the porcupine man tried to hide his blush by looking away from her and having a mumbling conversation with Vince.

"Oh, so you're back, Shelke. Are you hungry?"

"No, thank you, Tifa. I bought a sandwich in town."

"Oh, okay. Did you have fun?"

"Yes."

"Hmm? What did you do, Shelkie?" I asked, curious.

"I sat on a bench, looking at the people walking by. I try to understand this town. I think I am like any girl of my age, except for my length, now."

"That's...boring. Personally, I've laughed at a suitor, got my dad pissed, run from home, crossed the ocean, and walked here from Kalm. With no one as company. Oh yes, Vince, but he's an undead so he doesn't count."

I could feel Vinnie death-stare me, but I only giggled. Shelke smiled. Good, she had got some humour, something that did not apply for a certain emo vampire...

"So, Shelke," I said and led her to a barstool, and sat down on one myself, "what've you been up to? Any fun? Teasing Chocobutt? That is great fun I tell you, I have tried many times. He gets angry every single time, that stupid bird's ass." I ignored Cloud's hate-glare. He and Vince could create a club or something, their boring-ness is equal.

"Well..." Shelke began. "I have tried to learn how to act and talk like a normal person, as well as get over the pain I felt after Shalua. I lost her once, then got her back, and then lost her again after a short while...it feels so unfair, if you know what I mean? I needed her when I began my new life here, in Edge, instead of living under the city. But Tifa, Cloud, Marlene and Denzel have helped me a lot. Am I...normal now, in your eyes?"

"Well, almost. Addressing your bestest buddy ever, which is _me_ of course, by full name is...strange. But you don't sound like Mouldie here, who pretends to be from like, two hundred years ago. That Vinnie and all his fancy speaking..."

"I am glad that you think of me a a good friend. After all, you did bitch-slap me."

"Oh yeah...I had forgotten about that, hehe...Sorry."

"Don't worry. I guess I deserved it. "

"You kinda did. But now you're okay!"

Shelke just smiled. Gawd, she was cute when she did that!

"So, you got any boyfriend yet? You should have one!"

"I...don't know. I am still so unsure of myself, and sometimes people surprise me with their actions. I think I still need time to get used to it all."

"But Shelkie, boys will always be unpredictable and slippery as eels. Don't try to understand them, ever. Just kiss them and have as much fun as possible with them. That'll make it a lot easier for you."

"...Maybe. If I ever find an interesting guy, I will think of what you said."

"Yeah, you really should. I'm awesome at giving all sorta advise, y'know."

"Dinner's ready! I warmed some soup for you guys. Eat and enjoy."

Tifa put down a sauce pan with something that smelled delicious at the bar counter. Then she went back into the kitchen and came back with two soup plates and spoons.

"Thanks Teef, I'm really hungry. I can eat Vincent's share too, since he's a skeleton it'll just run straight through him anyway..."

Vinnie just glared.

-TWR&TH-

When we had eaten, I decided to ask Tifa what I had wanted to ask since I got here.

"Um, Teefs, is there any chance that I could like, stay here for a while? If I return to Wutai dad'll kill me... I can work here or any other thing you want me to do, just let me stay here please?"

"Of course you can!" Tifa answered. "You can work here, that's fine with me. I'll make a good bar maid out of you. You could even get some Gil if you're good, not only a bed and food..."

"Thanks Tifa, I love you bunches!"

It looked like things were beginning to get better. Maybe.

_**Hmm, is this good? I don't know. I like that kiddo, though. I wanna have kids like him, too! If I ever have any, that is. I'd probably be the worst mother ever. 'Hmm, what is it, honey? Are you hungry? Not now, dear, mum's beating the crap outta Sephiroth.' Haha. Oh well, at least I know what the next chapter's going to be about. And that's when the real action starts :D And that's when the OC appears. Du-du-du-duuuuh! Review, and I'll love you.**_

_**~Shade Lamora**_


	5. Chapter 4: Meeting the emotions

_**Ehm...Sorry for being late... you all hate me now, don't you? Oh well, it can't be helped. You see, around Christmas it's always super stressful, and after Christmas I went to dad's, where there's still no internet (hopefully there will in March), and when I got back to living with mum, school started again, and I started worrying. Like, a lot. I'm like that, completely unnecessary since I'm basically the genius in my class, but I still worry. And since I was worrying, I couldn't sleep, so I was constantly tired for three weeks and couldn't bring myself to write anything at all. But yesterday, my writing mood got back, and in these two days I've written two new one-shots and this new chapter :) Hooray for my writing mood!**_

_**Well, anyway, enjoy! Next chapter will be up before Friday, promise. I'll write every free minute I have if I so must, but by the Nameless Thirteenth, it will be up!**_

_**DISCLAIMER: Oh seriously. This feels unnecessary. I don't own Final Fantasy VII or any of its characters etcetera etcetera. I do own the OC, though, who appears for the first time in this chapter. Don't hate me for bringing in an OC! It's needed. And this is still a Yuffentine, though a progressing one.**_

**Chapter 4: Meeting the emotions**

I was utterly bored. Extremely bored. Extraordinary bored. Because nothing at all happened. And Yuffie Kisaragi doesn't feel good when nothing is happening, or when something isn't happening.

I was standing behind the bar counter in the completely empty 7th Heaven. It was maybe ten past twelve, the bar had just opened and the sun was shining in through the windows as if to tease me, who had to be here. Alone. Vince was upstairs in his room, Cloud was delivering random stuff to random people, the kids were in school, Tifa was out to buy food or something, and Shelke had said that she'd be gone for a couple of days, because she wanted to go to the chocobo farm. Apparently, she was very fond of chocobos and visited the farm as often as she could. Tifa had told me that she was doing all kind of small jobs to earn enough gil to buy a stall, and get a chocobo of her own.

Tifa had used the weekend to teach me the ways of a bar maid, and today was my first day of working alone. Not that I did work much, since there weren't any customers, but still. I spent my time thinking of the past few days.

It hadn't been until the morning after me and Vinnie arrived that I had realised one thing, and asked Tifa about it.

"Teef, if Vince lives here, how come you acted like you hadn't seen him for ages yesterday?"

She had looked at me, surprised.

"Didn't Vincent tell you? He was travelling the world."

"Yeah, I know."

"And he had been away for at least three months before he showed up here yesterday. That's why we were so happy to see him, and you too, of course."

"_Three months_? He's been gone for _three months_? No wonder you acted like you did! I thought it was strange, but I didn't remember the fact that he lives here until now... Seriously, three months?"

What a great friend he is, that Valentine. Being away for three frickin' months. And now he was hiding upstairs, when I would appreciate any company, even his. Stupid, idiotic, mouldy vampire-zombie-ghost-whatever.

I sighed loudly, sat down on a stool and put my head in my hands, staring at the door.

"Can't something, _anything_, happen?" I asked the silent room. "Even a drunk would be better than this!"

Nothing happened. I moaned and let my head fall from my hands and rest on the bar instead. So completely meaningless, opening the bar at twelve when there was no customers! Tifa said that Mondays and Tuesdays are the worst, because people have been drinking all weekend and now they don't have any gil left, and the people who would normally eat lunch here have spent the weekend cooking food to bring to work, to save money. People are so greedy.

I was just about to fall asleep in the gentle sunlight, when I could hear the door open. Was Teef back already? Or was it...a customer? Excitement got hold of me, my head flew up and I fired off the biggest smile I possibly could manage, because Boobs said that a happy and nice bar maid attracts customers. When I had work trained with her, I understood that having a chest that looked like you had implanted footballs helped a lot too.

The person coming in through the door was not Tifa, and I opened my mouth to say 'Welcome to 7th Heaven, how may I be of service?' because I was feeling extra happy and extra nice and extra bar maid-ish. Then the words stuck in my throat and my jaw dropped.

Since the person standing maybe five metres in front of me was illuminated from behind, it was hard to see what he or she actually looked like. All I saw was long, silver hair, the sunlight reflecting in the blank polished steel of a sword, and black, flowing clothes. A pair of big, mako-green eyes stared at me, and I felt how the cold talons of fear sunk deep in my heart. Without thinking, I screamed as loudly as I possibly could.

"Remnant! Sephiroth remnant!"

I could hear how shrill, scared and strained my voice was, the signs of true and utter horror. The person took a few slow steps towards me, and I realised that the movements looked almost...unsure, nervous or even scared. How strange.

"E-excuse me..."

To my big surprise, it was a girl's voice. She sounded as frightened as I had felt just a second ago, and now I could discern her looks a little. She had a thin, pale face, almost as thin and pale as Mr. Angst, and her eyes (which seemed to be huge since they were wide open with terror) shone of mako. Her hair reached to her mid-thighs, and it had the same colour as a moonlit river. But, and this I noticed with hope, it wasn't straight like Sephiroth's, instead it was a little wavy, which reminded me even more of a moonlit river. Moonlit river? Since when had I been so poetic?

She was dressed in a long, black dress with sleeves made of what seemed to be strips of black fabric sewn together to web-like cylinders. The dress was shoulder-less, the skirt ended halfway to her knees front-wise, and at the back it almost reached the floor. She had a belt around her waist, and in it a long katana that reminded me way too much of the Masamune hung. It also looked like she carried a pair of knives or daggers.

She was surprisingly muscular for a girl, at least it looked like it. Or maybe she was just a little chubby? It occurred to me how weird it was with her thin face and robust body together, not to mention the fact that she had the hair and eye colour of Sephiroth.

"Ex-excuse me, miss" she said again, "I am looking for Tifa Lockhart."

"Who're you?" was my response.

"I am sorry! My name is Alyera, and I have come here to look for a job. Miss Lockhart told me to come here for an interview."

"Where do you come from? What's you mother's name? Why're you carrying a katana? Why do you look like that?"

Poor girl. I saw how surprised she looked, and then even more scared. I guess I was staring at her, plus I had without noticing it grabbed my Eveningstar from behind the bar counter and now was holding it aimed at her and ready to throw. She looked like she was going to start crying any second.

"I-I am sorry if m-my presence bothers you, miss," she stammered, "I'm from Junon, my mother is the high-borne Lady Marynda, I carry with me the Chaos' Fang to protect myself from those who wishes me harm, and I am afraid that I cannot do much in order to affect my looks, miss."

"Do you have any affiliation with the Shinra, Sephiroth or Jenova? What do you know about Black Materia and Meteor? And what about the Lifestream? And mako?"

"Please, miss, I have never had anything at all to do with the Shinra, all I know about Sephiroth is that he was a SOLDIER 1st class and that he called Meteor upon us! I have never heard of Jenova or Black Materia!"

She actually was crying now. I started to think that she really couldn't be a Sephiroth avatar, and was just about to ask her again about the Lifestream and mako, but nicer this time, when the door to the kitchen flew open. Vincent was standing there, eyes glowing, with Cerberus aimed at the silver-haired girl.

"You made a mistake coming here. Why do you exist? I thought we had eradicated all of your kind!" he growled.

I realised that he was actually gonna _shoot_ her, right on the spot, so I yelled "_NO_!" and ran to him, grabbed Cerberus and tried to pull it from his hand.

"She's not an avatar Vince, don't shoot her! That'd be murder! I over-reacted as usual!"

"Then, who are you?" Vincent asked, eyes still fixed at Alyera. I turned around to look at her, and saw that tears were now streaming down her cheeks like a leaking tap.

"I promise you mister, I have nothing to do with Sephiroth! I have already explained to the miss here! It's not my fault that I...that I look like..."

Her voice faded away, and she looked so pained that I felt all the suspicion dissolve into pity. I went to her side, put a hand on her shoulder, which was a little hard since she was almost a decimetre taller than me, and smiled as nicely as I possibly could after this scary surprise.

"Hey...Alyera? Why don't you come to the bar counter and sit down, and tell us? Hmm? I'll make sure that Vincent won't blow your brain out."

I lead the young woman, who looked as shocked as I felt, to a stool and made her sit down. Vince leaned against the wall, glaring at her with his arms folded over his chest. At least he didn't try to shoot her.

"So, tell us."

She took a deep breath, glanced at Vinnie, and started talking.

"My name is Alyera Hanrae. I am twenty years old, and I have come here from Junon in search for work. Miss Lockhart told me to come to 7th Heaven for an interview. That is why I am here."

"And why do you look like a child of Jenova?" Vincent asked. He is so kind, that man. When Alyera looked confused, he explained by saying "Sephiroth."

"Oh. Well... When I was smaller, I was blonde, and my eyes were green-blue. But...when I was six, my family and I visited a mako reactor, and I fell...down into the basin. I was exposed to a great amount of mako energy, and it turned my hair silver and made my eyes greener. It also awoke..."

She got silent. Vincent twitched, leaned forward on the bar and stared intensely at her. She looked absolutely terrified, and I don't blame her one bit. I have seen Vince when he looks like that, and I still have nightmares about freaky red-eyed men who will rape me in a dark alley somewhere if I don't behave.

"Awoke _what_?" he asked.

"Terrible powers. Over-human strength. And..." she fidgeted nervously. "A demon."

"Oh crap", I said. This was sure as hell gonna make Vince upset.

"Did you say demon? What demon?" Vince looked like he was going to crush the wood in the bar counter with his fists.

"W-well..." Alyera stammered, "she is black..."

I could he how Vinnie relaxed ever so slightly when he heard that the demon was female, but he was still tense.

"And what...does she..._do_?" he asked, his breath ragged.

"She visits me in my dreams, telling me the most horrible things, and sometimes I think I am going to go crazy, like she is going to take over my mind..."

"Oh for Leviathan's sake!" I yelled, making her jump half a metre up in the air. "I've had enough of people with demons inside of their heads! Okay, girl, whatever you do, don't let that freak control you, 'kay? 'Cause then all hell's prolly gonna break loose, and I sure as hell have had enough of that! Jeebus! What the hell's wrong with that fucking Lifestream? SOLDIERs! Monsters! Demons! And that butt hole Omega thing!"

Right now, I did_ not_ feel as mature as Vinnie said I had become. I didn't want to be mature, either. I had had enough of things not going the way I wanted them to, I really had. I had been nice and stayed in Wutai for almost a year. I had done as my father wanted and behaved and tried to have interesting conversations with loads of suitors (and failed at doing so). But when I eventually decide to do as _I_ want to, everything screws up. I think that all those months of playing Daddy's Nice Little Girl had made something grow inside me. The desire for freedom. And then that Fenriru guy shows up, and the yearning feeling bursts loose, I over-react and then everything goes to hell. As usual. And now, when I thought I'd be able to live happily with my friends here in Edge, some new central plot point in some new crazy story appears and turns everything upside down. Why did she have to come here? Why her, a girl who hid a demon in her head? _Why? _It wasn't fair!

"It's not fair! Why can't Tifa find _normal_ bar maid aspirants?"

"Yuffie." Vincent seemed to be much calmer now, maybe because he had to, now that I was rampaging. "It is not her fault."

I froze. Of course it wasn't her fault. I couldn't blame her for something like that. I had already seen how easily that girl got sad. I sighed loudly, and looked at her with something I hoped was an apologising look.

"Sorry, Alyera. It's not your fault, I just... I just over-reacted. I do that quite often, and it almost always leads to me screwing everything up. So, tell me. How could you possibly _fall_ into a mako basin? I mean, the catwalks in a reactor have railings, don't they? Yeah, I understand if you were small and curious, but didn't your parents look after you?"

Alyera smiled the tiniest and most nervous smile I've ever seen, and fidgeted some more.

"Well..." she started. I got the feeling that she really didn't want to tell me and Vince what her parents had been doing at the time she fell, like she wanted to protect some family secret. "They were looking after my two elder brothers."

_'They were looking after my two elder brothers.'_ Something about that sentence felt very, very wrong. Alyera said she'd been six years old. A parent wouldn't leave their six-year-old daughter alone in a mako reactor because they were minding the two older kids. If they were older than six, they would've been able to look after themselves. The parents would've taken better care of their youngest child. Unless...unless they didn't care about their daughter. Unless they didn't care whether she got involved in an accident or not.

"Oh no", I said. "Oh no, no no no. They didn't... they did _care_ about your well-being, right? Tell me they did. Tell me they loved you just as much as they did your brothers."

Vincent glanced at me, probably understanding what I had in mind, and Alyera kept on fidgeting, even more nervously now.

"Well, my parents... my father... I think that...he wanted a son. I think he wanted another heir to his trading company. He was disappointed when my mother gave birth to a girl. But he would have loved me, were I only as strong and intelligent as my brothers..."

"You're telling me your father is one of those sexist pigs who think boys are better than girls." It wasn't a question, it was a statement. I looked at Vincent, to see how he reacted. He was frowning, eyes narrowed. I knew that he was as upset as I.

"I...I did not believe such thoughts still lingered among the people", Vince muttered.

"Yeah... After all, this is a modern society, you'd think that sexism was dying." I said.

"Oh no, you got it all wrong!" Alyera cried out. "My father is a great and loving man, he had all rights to be disappointed with me! I was never a good daughter, I trained with my sword when I should have learnt how to cook food and wash clothes instead! It is all my fault, had I only been a better daughter..."

She never got the chance to finish the sentence, since I rose from the stool so fast it overturned. I slammed my hands, balled into fists, in the bar, and bellowed:

"Never say that again, or I'll fucking _stab_ you with your own sword! Cooking and cleaning is _not_ the women's place in society! If you want to become a sword fighter, then do it, you've got the right! And never, _never ever_, let anyone tell you it's men's doing to fight! I've fought in three fucking wars, I've seen people I loved, and still love, be stabbed, crushed, killed, I've seen more blood than you could ever imagine, I've slain more enemies than there's frogs in the Gongaga jungle, I've laughed in the face of death more times than I can count, and as far as I know, I'm a girl! Never let anyone put you down because of your gender, and if they do, then you know that you're worth ten times as much as they... Never let them put you down."

I was breathing heavily, my whole body was shaking with rage, and I was looking down at the wood on which my fists rested, my sight blurred by tears. It was a long time ago since I had felt an emotion this strong, a long time ago since I experienced fury like this. I wanted to crush, destroy and ravage, I wanted to kill, hurt and injure, I wanted to scream, cry and be comforted. Because this was Godo all over, only worse.

"Yuffie is right." Vince's voice was sudden, and it was angry. "Back when I was young, women had just started to get the same rights as men. That was fifty years ago. Any person who still thinks sons are better than daughters is held in a steady grip by the past, their thoughts are obsolete and they need to move on and live in the present. Your father is obviously one of those people."

I almost opened my mouth to say that Vincent perhaps wasn't the right person to talk about 'live in the present', but I stopped myself. This was no time for jokes, and the man was right. Instead I nodded.

"I don't understand how anyone could treat their children like that. Trust me, my father isn't exactly a saint either. He's been trying to get me married for almost a year, and he doesn't care whether I like the suitors or not. The only reason I'm still a 'miss' instead of a 'Mrs' is that I've scared all those pretty-boys away. Don't listen to your old man. I don't, and look at me! I'm the prettiest girl in town, I'm super smart and sexy as hell. I've got great friends who'd never abandon me, I've got a home here, and my life can only get better. It can for you, too! I'll tell Teef to hire you, and then you can stay here, and become as awesome as me. You don't have to do anything your dad tells you, you're a grown-up, a dazzling young lady, and you can get anyone and anything you want here. Just you wait! I'll get you a boyfriend and a life. In return, you'll be my gal pal, right lass?"

Alyera looked uncertain, but nodded.

"All right! Now, all we have to do is wait for Boobs to come back, and then we're all set and ready to go. Go owning the pants offa everyone out there, I mean. Hey, you hungry? As you can see, there's not a single customer bastard in sight, and I want something to do. I suck at cooking, I admit that, but I make the greatest pancakes you can possibly find on this planet, and I'm starting to get hungry. Whaddaya say?"

"If it is of no trouble to you, then I would be lovely to have something to eat."

I grinned widely at her.

"Alrighty! Pancakes it will be! And after that, I'm gonna teach you how to speak like people. You sound like Vampire here."

She glanced at Vinnie, apparently worried, which only made me grin even wider. I skipped away to the kitchen swing doors, turned around and said:

"Vincent, now you behave and don't eat Alyera or drink her blood or anything like that, because if you do, you can't taste my pancakes."

Vinnie hate-glared me as I went into the kitchen and started looking for ingredients.

Now, cooking isn't my favourite hobby, and I'm no good at it either – except pancakes. My pancakes rule. And since Tifa's kitchen was super hi-tech, they were easier than usual to make and they smelt better. I wondered what was better, eating here in the kitchen and not be able to see when a customer came in, or eating out in the bar, risking to look bad if customers really did come. I decided for the latter. Since I was busy frying the pancakes, I didn't have time to lay the table...bar counter.

"Viiiiii-nceent!" I yelled. "Would you help me for a second?"

"What do you want?" came his kind answer.

"I want you to lay the bar counter! I'd rather not eat directly on the wood, you see."

"Hn", was his creative reply.

The doors swung open, but I could hear that it wasn't Vince who came in.

"I would be happy to help you, miss Yuffie", she said.

"Hey, hey, no one calls me 'miss'. I'm tired of that. The whole frickin' court at home always calls me 'Miss Yuffie' or 'Lady Yuffie' or 'Princess Yuffie', and I'm so sick of it I could..."

"Oh!" Alyera's voice interrupted me. "Are you a princess? I am so sorry, milady, for not showing you the respect a dependent should..."

"Come on!" this time it was I who interrupted her. "Didn't I just tell you I'm sick of people calling me by lotsa fancy titles? I swear I'll strangle you if you don't call me just Yuffie."

"I-I am sorry...Yuffie."

"Good. See, we can't be normal friends if you're going to talk to me like I'm a royal. Oh well, I _am_ a royal, but I try to forget that. Have you any idea how hard it is to be the sole successor to the throne of Wutai? I guess my old man really wanted a son, too... But he never got one, 'cause mum died before I got any siblings. And then he started to bitch around...like it was my fault mum died. Like I wasn't just as sad as him. It was then I learned that I didn't need him. I ran from home I don't know how many times when I was a kid, and then I set out on a journey to find materia...but instead I found AVALANCHE, which was even better than materia, though I didn't understand it at first. Ha, those were glorious days...fighting monsters every day, fighting my comrades-in-arms every night, fighting my own guilt every morning."

"What do you mean...guilt?"

"You see, I stole their materia once. They chased me down and blah blah and I fought my old man, snitched the Leviathan materia from Da Chao – that's the mountain which rises over Wutai Town – and learned an awesome battle technique. Then I rejoined them, but I felt super guilty for a long time after, even if they never blamed me, not even once. But now we're the tightest buddies ever, and it turned out I wasn't the worst traitor, 'cause Cait Sith, who was a robot cat controlled by Reeve Tuesti, founder of the WRO, was a spy from the Shin-Ra... Wait, this is no good. How about this: if Boobs hire you, I'll tell you the entire story of the First Jenova War, in which we were the great heroes. Sound okay?"

"...Boobs?"

"Tifa. You'll understand when you meet her. Whaddaya say?"

Alyera nodded, looking almost excited. Almost. I wondered if she was going to be the next Vince (but female, of course) and walk around with a facial expression as if she was watching paint dry. Because that was exactly like Vince, 'Hi-I'm-Mister-Poker-Face-I-don't-have-emotions'. She could be Mrs Poker Face. And then she and Vince could have little poker face kids...wait. That thought's just scary. What if the world was invaded by small poker faced kids? Horrible! And for some reason, the thought of Alyera and Vincent together made something twist and turn inside me.

"Oh yeah, Alyera, could you take plates and glasses from that cupboard, and forks and knives from the cutlery drawer over there? Thanks."

She did what I had asked her too, and when she was done, she politely wondered if there was anything else she could to to assist me. I told her to get syrup from the larder, milk from the fridge and then sit down and be a nice and patient girl. She did her chores like this was the military, and I was her superior. Poor girl.

Eventually, I was finished frying the pancakes, and carried them on a platter to the bar counter. So far, I hadn't seen one single customer. We sat down and ate, I basically shoved my pancakes directly down my throat without chewing, Alyera chewed at lest thirty times before swallowing, and Vincent ate one and then declared that he wasn't hungry. Since I took this as an personal insult, I responded by throwing a pancake with syrup in his face. Vincent, in turn, looked like was going to shoot me, before growling like an enraged Behemoth and flap away to his room. Yes, flap. Have you any idea how much he resembles a bat with that cloak?

Alyera had been looking at us during this whole little incident, eyes wide. I understood what she thought, and answered with a grin:

"We're always like this. Well, usually I don't throw food in his face, but we fight a lot. Then he goes away to hide in a dark closet or something, until he decides it's no use to be sulky since I won't apologise anyway. It's nothing to worry about, this is just friendship fighting. Mostly."

She didn't seem convinced.

When we were done eating, we carried everything back into the kitchen, and I dumped the dishes in the sink. Tifa would have something to look forward to when she got home. Then we got back to the bar, sitting down next to each other behind the counter.

"So..." I said. "Your family's wealthy, right? You said you mum's a lady, and that your old man's got a trading company? So, why're you looking for work? How come you need to, especially if your dad think you should be at home cooking or whatever?"

"Because..." She was fidgeting again. This was going to be bad. "The demon inside my mind...she was sleeping for so long, but she recently awoke. I never noticed her when I was a child, but when I turned seventeen she started coming to me in my dreams. I told my parents about it, because I was worried and sought comfort. All I found was an icy shield. They despised me for what I am, for what dwells inside me. And then, one day...hell broke loose."

A tear ran down her cheek.

"Two weeks ago, my dad told me he had finally managed to find me a suitor. He was the son of the president of another trading company. It would benefit them both if their offspring got married. Their companies, the two mightiest in Junon, would become one. But...I did not like the young man who was to become my betrothed, not at all. He was arrogant and selfish, he insulted me and made me angry. And he awoke the demon. She crawled to the surface, she made me furious. I attacked him, I almost killed him with my bare hands. My rage destroyed everything. My father refused to accept my apologies, refused to accept me as his daughter. He threw me out. I had nothing else to do than try to find a job... And then I saw an ad in a newspaper, posted by miss Lockhart. I called her from a payphone, and she told me to come to Edge for an interview. I didn't have any money left, so I couldn't take the boat to Kalm, but instead I had to walk."

"What, you're telling me you _walked_ all the way here from Junon? Past the Midgar Zolom?"

She nodded.

"It, too, awoke my rage. I slew it. After all...my physical strength is comparable with that of a SOLDIER 1st class. I was exposed to an enormous amount of mako, just below the rate that would have turned me into a monster. Then again... I guess a monster is what I am..."

"Shut up! Now you sound like Vincent. He's been blaming himself for something that wasn't his fault for over thirty years. He believes that hosting demons makes him one, too. It's not true. He's one of the best friends I've ever had, he's brave, he'd do anything to protect me or Tifa or any of the other members of AVALANCHE, he's the best fighter I've ever seen... Don't blame yourself, or you'll become like Vince. He said your dad lives in the past, true. The guy's obviously got an obsolete view on women. But the thing is... Vincent does too. Live in the past, I mean. He still haven't been able to fully let his so-called sins go. He still blames himself. And...it's horrible. For him, for me, for the others. He suffers, and we must see his pain, unable to help him. Please, don't be like that. Don't call yourself a monster. You're still human. Cloud – that's Teef's soon-to-be boyfriend – was a SOLDIER. He's infused with mako, and there's nothing wrong with him, except he's a little too emo for my taste. At least he's forgiven himself, two years ago. But he's a nice guy, and I know that you're a nice girl. So you just be quiet."

She was quietly looking down at her hands, which she kept in her lap. Then, after several seconds of silence, she whispered:

"Thank you."

She was crying. I put an arm around her shoulders, suddenly feeling that I had to be Tifa now, that I had to be the big sister.

"It's alright. Just you wait. You'll be so happy here. Another powerful warrior in our little gang...it's gonna be alright. If you want too...then cry. Sometimes it makes the pain go away."

And she cried. Silent tears streamed down her face, splashing down on her hands and dress. I let her weep, I knew it was probably the best thing for her right now.

-TWR&TH-

When Tifa got back, I explained everything to her. She nodded, with a very serious facial expression.

"I'll hire her. She needs a family, and mine can never get enough members. Where is she now?"

"She's sleeping in my room. Poor girl was so tired after her journey, and all the emotional changes she's been experiencing, not to talk about how she must feel after being thrown out by her own father."

"Good idea, Yuffie."

"...Teef?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you for letting her stay."

Tifa smiled.

"It looks like you've got a family of your own now, Yuffie. Take good care of your new sister."

"I will. By Leviathan, I will."

_**Sooo... How you all like it? Alyera's necessary for Yuffie to be able to complete her quest of becoming an adult. Or something like that. Anyway, she'll bring happiness to Yuffie, and thus happiness to us all...right? I really hope that you'll like her, 'cause she'll be staying for quite a while.**_

_**Anyway, now I'm gonna write the next chapter for Tales of Life, and then I'll start with chapter five of this here story. Sheez. Oh, and I wouldn't mind if you checked out my two new one-shots, either ;) *SUPER SHAMELESS PROMOTION FTW***_

_**Love,**_

_**Shade Lamora**_


	6. Chapter 5: Introductions

_**M'kay, this is a shortie, but at least I kept my promise! Well, I don't have much more to say, I don't own FFVIII blah blah. Enjoy!**_

_Chapter 5: Introductions_

The next day, the alarm woke me up at 6.30. Seriously. Why get up at 6.30 when the bar didn't open until 7.30 at Tuesdays? Tifa said that Mondays there were no customers bying breakfast, but Tuesdays, there were. So I had to get up at 6.30. Which was so not fair, since Mouldy and Chocoass could sleep as long as they wanted too.

I sighed, and heaved myself up from the bed. I could hear Tifa do the same thing in the room next to mine. I found the clothes I had worn since I came here, felt the smell they radiated but couldn't do anything else than put them on. After all, I didn't have any others. I made a mental note to myself: Ask Teef for a little deposit of my salary, to buy new clothes as soon as I could. I wouldn't be a good bar maid if I smelled like how I guess Vincent must've smelt after those thirty years. Yeesh.

Me and Tifa got out from our rooms at the same time. We gave each other a tired smile, and went down the stairs to the kitchen. We had decided to let Alyera sleep, since she'd been up for quite a while yesterday explaining everything to and getting hired by Tifa.

"Mornin'", I said, rubbing my eyes.

"Good morning, Yuffie" Tifa answered, yawning and stretching. Then she suddenly stopped. "Can you feel that smell?" she asked.

"Yeah..." I said. There was a smell in the air, there really was. We looked at each other, then hurried down to the kitchen.

In front of the stove stood Alyera, frying already lay a lesser mountain of done sandwiches on a platter next to her.

"What the-" I said.

When she heard me, Alyera turned around, smiled that faint little shadow of a smile and blushed.

"I-I only thought that I would prepare breakfast for you all, to make it easier for you, since you have been so kind and hired me..." she stammered.

"Oh, my!" Tifa exclaimed. "You should be sleeping, girl! You're tired; you've been through a lot and there's no need for you to do something like this..."

"Oh, but miss Lockhart, I felt I really needed to do something to repay at least a little of your great kindness to me! And I could not sleep anyway."

"Why not?" I asked her, remembering what she's said about that demon of hers visiting her in her dreams.

"W-well... Something has been bothering me. But I do not know what."

"Then we're the same", I muttered. That was true, something _had_ been bothering me ever since I first met Alyera.

"May I ask what it is that is troubling you, Yuffie?"

"Weeell..." I began, knowing that I was risking to sound very stupid if I continued. "It's just that...I've got this feeling I've met you somewhere before. Silly, I know, but I just can't shake that feeling off me."

"Oh!" she cried out. "It is the exact same feeling I got when I first met you yesterday!"

"Strange..." Tifa said, looking from me to Alyera and back again.

"Sure is", I replied. How could both me and Alyera have that same feeling of having met before? She said she'd been living in Junon before her dad cast her out, and I didn't know anyone in Junon, or from Junon for that matter. I had lived in Wutai my whole life until I set out on my journey to find materia, and even if I was near Junon I never entered the city until I had teamed with Chocobutt and the others. I never liked it either; Junon was the City of Steel, it was hard, cold and polished like the blade of Cloud's Buster Sword. The city didn't have feelings, memories, it didn't have a _soul_. It didn't feel as personal as other cities. Even Edge with its concrete appartment skyscrapers and building sites had more personality, more charm, more spirit, than Junon. I know it was the Shin-Ra's fault Junon ended up like it did; but nevertheless, it still was the only place on earth where I'd never ever agree to live. That's why I had always spent as short time possible there; why I had always urged Cloud to move on whenever we got there. To me, Junon meant trouble, and I sure as hell never stayed long enough to become friends with oppressed daughters of trading company presidents. So I really couldn't understand from where this feeling came. And Alyera experiencing the same thing? That was just kinda scary. The thought of her demon flew through my head; this smelled like creepy Lifestream magic all right. But I wasn't going to tell the poor girl about my premonitions. She had enough bad stuff to think about already. Instead I said:

"Teef, would you mind giving me a deposit of my salary? I need new clothes, these stink and I don't wanna be known as the Stinking Bar Maid. I can go shopping as soon as I've got some spare time."

Tifa seemed happy to get something else to think of. Actually, she shone like a sun, smiling at me and Alyera.

"That is a _great_ idea, Yuffie! How about this: I'll give you both deposits of your salary, and this afternoon you can go shopping together! What do you say, girls?"

"Awesome Teef, you're the best!" I cheerily said.

"Ooh, that is too kind of you, miss Lockhart!" Alyera exclaimed. I was actually starting to get pretty annoyed with her.

"No, it's not too kind of her", I said. "She can't have bar maids who smell like Barret's ass a Monday morning or walk around dressing like a Sephiroth avatar! We both need new clothes, girl, and don't you say 'no' because then I'll frickin' hit you. You need to learn to claim, to take and to keep! You're young, the world's lying before your feet, and you can't meet it face to face dressed like that! We're going shopping this afternoon, whether you want it or not! We _can_ take this afternoon off, can we Teef?"

Tifa nodded.

"Tuesdays are quite calm. If it gets to stressful, Marlene will help me when she gets home from school. You girls go shop, get to know each other better and maybe go to a café or something. It'll be good for you both. Yuffie, you can refresh your mental Edge map while showing Alyera around, and you can both learn to find your way around, since you'll be living here for a while, won't you?"

"Yeah! I only know the parts of the city around here, I've never been to the shopping streets or anything like that", I said. "Vince and I navigated here with help from the signs. What do you say, Alyera?"

She nodded slowly, uncertain.

"Perhaps you are right, Yuffie...perhaps I need to learn to claim, take and keep. I feel so...so different compared to other people. Maybe staying and working here can teach me how to be like a normal twenty-year-old. Maybe...maybe I can let go of my past."

"Yeah! Yeah, yeah yeahhh! I can have 'Let go of your past'-lessons for you and Vince and then you'll be happy bunnies instead of sulking zombies! Hey, let's get those sandwiches done."

I helped Alyera fry the rest of the sandwiches, and they sure as hell smelt lovely; cheese, ham and oregano. She really could cook, at least make breakfast. And fried sandwiches wasn't the easiest; mine always got burnt, so I usually stick to normal ones.

The kids came down just as we had laid the table. They looked excited; I guessed it was because of two reasons. The first was that they hand't met Alyera the day before; she was asleep when they got home from school, so they had just heard me tell them about her, and when she woke up, they had gone to the park with some friends. She didn't stay up for long, only until we had made a bed in one of the empty rooms ready for her, and she had told Tifa evrything, so when they got back, she was sleeping again. The second reason was probably the wonderful smell.

Neither Marlene nor Denzel were shy kids, yet the sight of Alyera in their kitchen made them slow down. Maybe it was because of her looks, even though I had told them that she did look a lot like a Sephiroth avatar. I cleared my throat.

"Alyera, this is Denzel and Marlene. Denny and Marly, this is Alyera Hanrae."

"H-hello, Denzel, Marlene..." Alyera stuttered, apparently even more nervous than the kids. When they noticed this, they seemed to gain some self-confidence.

"Hi Alyera!" they said in chorus. Now they were smiling their cute kiddie-smiles and looking adorable.

"Don't let those sweet faces fool you", I said. "Marly knew how to mix a drink when she was four, and Denzel is a fierce little fighter. He'll kick your ass if you give him an iron stick."

"Oh..." was her answer.

"But don't worry, they're nice. As long as you're nice to them, that is."

"I-I hope that we will get along, Marlene, Denzel..." she said, still sounding unsure.

"I think we will!" Marlene said, smiling that super cute Marly-smile.

"Me too!" Denzel agreed. Those two kids were just so adorable when they were being nice like now.

"Aww you cuties!" I squeaked and ruffled their hair, which made Marly giggle and Denny to try to look offended, though he really was smiling. "Now, let's eat. Alyera's been so nice and made breakfast for us all, so you better think it's good."

They nodded happily, sat down and started eating. Geez, those kids really could eat! Even though he was only half my age, Denny still ate twice as many sandwiched as me, and Marly acted like she had starved for a week.

"This is the best breakfast I've had for ages!" she stated, mouth full of melted cheese and ham.

"Yeah! It's great! Thanks, Alyera", Denny filled in.

"Hey!" Tifa said with played anger. "Isn't my breakfast good enough for you? Is that what you're saying?"

"No, no", they ensured her. "It's just that, you never make fried sandwiches momma."

Momma? Since when did Denzel and Marlene think of Teef as their _momma_? Tifa saw my confused face, smiled and explained:

"They call me that jokingly, since I'm the one who takes care of them most of the time. Just like Denzel also calls Cloud papi sometimes."

Denny blushed; he probably though it was extremely embarrassing.

"Aww well aren't you just the cutest kids ever!" I squealed. "Denny, you've become such a big boy and yet you're still as cute as the first time I saw you can I kidnap you both and bring you home to Wutai as my pets when Godo's stopped being mad at me?"

"I'm afraid I, Cloud and Barret want our kids to stay here, Yuffie", Tifa said, smiling.

"Aww... But I wantz themz!"

"Get kids of your own. You're old enough."

"Yeah, that was a fun one. I'm laughing myself to death. Tifa? _I CAN'T HAVE KIDS IF I DON'T HAVE A FATHER FOR THEM!_ Sound familiar? Yeah, well, I'd need a boyfriend first. Preferably I'd be married first, 'cause then the guy just won't get the hell outta there when I tell him I'm carrying his child. Do I have a boyfriend slash husband? No! All I've got is the undead thing upstairs, but Vincent is a battle buddy plus he's a zombie. Zombie vampire. And he's mouldy. _Stop laughing stupid kids_!"

Marly and Denny had both started giggling hysterically when I spoke about Vince. It seemed they had completely misinterpreted what I was saying.

"Are you deaf, you gnomes? I said he's a comrade-in-arms, go wash your ears you dwarfed pygmies!"

The kids kept giggling and teasing me, and I kept yelling at them, until Tifa told them that they had to hurry or they'd be late for school. Still giggling, they gathered their things and finally disappeared out of my sight. But I really didn't get it any calmer, because we had to prepare the bar before opening. Tifa had told me that she'd work in the kitchen, and me and Alyera would take care of the selling-alcohol-and-taking-orders-part. So when she washed the dishes and prepared to make breakfast for the customers, me and Alyera cleaned the bar counter, the tables and the floor. This was supposed to be done after the bar's closing every evening, but yesterday we hadn't done it since Alyera's arrival kinda disturbed our rhythm. Now I had to show her what was to be done, where things were placed, and how she should do it. I felt like this was my bar, and hell was that a nice feeling! Tifa was still our boss of course, but she had told me that I had to be the top dog out here, taking care of our new 'family member' and make sure she was okay, until she was self-confident enough to handle things by her own. I made my best explaining everything to her as nicely as I possibly could, but it was a little hard since it was early in the morning and I was still tired. I also gave her an even more basic tutorial of The Wondrous World Of Alcohol And Booze than Tifa had given me. There was a folder with drink recipes on the shelf on our side of the bar counter, but it'd always be good if she could mix at least the most common drinks without having to look.

When we were done, we took all the chairs down from their resting spots on the tables, and placed them neatly on the floor. Then we cleaned the tables again, more thoroughly this time, since Tifa demanded they be cleaned twice. She was very determined about that; the tables had to be absolutely immaculate.

I noticed that Alyera learned everything they first time I told her about it. She never asked questions like 'where is this supposed to be?' or 'where was that again?'. I also noticed that it made me happy. Maybe it was because I wanted her to experience good things to, and having a great memory sure was a good thing. But the problem was that she probably wasn't happy because of it. She had lived with it the whole life, so she wouldn't notice and think 'oh, what a great memory I have'. And I guessed that she'd rather have a pretty bad memory, to be able to forget everything bad that had happened in her life. I know I would. I would, if i only could, forget about my pain and my sorrow; forget about the wars, the losses of my mum, Aerith and Shalua, forget about my crappy old man. At least I could cheer myself up by thinking that he wasn't half as bad as Alyera's dad.

Just the thought of what that man had done to his daughter made a feeling which I had never experienced before boil inside me. This was anger, rage, fury of the like I had never felt before. I wanted to go to Junon, find the man and kill him immediately. No, I'd torture him just as much as he had tormented Alyera, and then I'd make him ask for her forgiveness, and then I'd kill him, slowly and painfully. But at the same time, I knew I couldn't. I knew I couldn't do that, because Alyera would never let me. It seemed like she, in some twisted way, still loved her father. At least she had tried to protect him yesterday. And I just couldn't understand how she could possibly harbous such feelings for the man who had mistreated her her whole life, who had reiuned her childhood, her adolescence and her life as a young woman, who had wounded her so severly she'd be scarred until her body was since long dead and turned to dust. I just couldn't. Family or not, you don't love pople who treat you like that! And I wondered about her mum and brothers, too. Didn't they see how she was suffering? Did her mother mistreat her like that, too? Did her brothers despise her like their father? I hoped this wasn't so. I felt like I cared for this girl, I really did. And I wanted her to have a family which loved her. Thww thought still bothered me though; How could a father hate his own child for something that was really his fault to begin with?

"Yuffie?"

Alyera's voice woke me up from my pondering. I blinked, surprised to see the bar around me, feeling the table I was leaning against underneath my hands.

"Yes?"

"You just seemed so...distant."

"I'm sorry. I was thinking. It's nothing"

-TWR&TH-

It was about lunchtime, the bar was about half full of people and I was about to get bored. Tifa was in the kitchen, Alyera kept a nervous eye on the guests, and I sat on one of the stools waiting for something to happen, kinda like yesterday. And just like yesterday, the door opened and a figure I knew all too well appeared.

With a few steps and some waves of his long hair, he strode to the bar counter, grinning like an idiot as usual. Reno of the Turks had honoured us with a visit, which I felt I could be without.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the princess. How's it goin'?"

"Hi Reno. I'm fine. Get the hell outta here, and have a nice day."

"Now now, what kinda way is that to greet an old friend?"

"You're not my friend Reno, you just happen to not be my enemy anymore."

"And you're unfair. I happen to be a loyal customer here..."

"Please shoot me somebody!"

"...and Tifa and Cloud doesn't have anything against me, so I really don't see why you should."

"I repeat: Please shoot me somebody! Rather that than having to be nice and professional with the Flaming Turkey around!"

Reno looked like he was going to say something rude in respons, but then his gaze moved to my left and his eyes widened.

"Holy..."

"She's not a Sephiroth avatar, Turk. Her name's Alyera Hanrae, and she works here."

"Oh, is that so? Glad to meet you, miss Hanrae."

For a couple of second Reno's stupid grin had disappeared, but now it was back and he fired it off at Alyera. She blushed furiously, and started fidgeting.

"H-hi, mister..." she stuttered.

"Oh, no. Don't you call him 'mister'", I said. "That's one of those things that makes me want to punch you. Alyera, this is Reno Nolastname, biggest jerk in the Turks. He's also known as the Flaming Turkey."

"Yeah, for once, the Brat Princess is right. No one calls me 'mister'. And I especially think that _you_ should call me just Reno... Actually, the more times you do it, the better."

Oh Leviathan. He was trying to flirt with her. I glanced at Alyera, she was beet red and looked ready to faint.

"Reno, shut up. She doesn't want you. Nobody does except Rude, face it and go gay."

Reno looked almost shocked. His green eyes grew wide and he gaped like a fish.

"That wasn't nice!"

"Oh, now wasn't it? You got anything against gay people? Huh? Do you know what I do to homophobes? I crush their knees and make them cry like little girls. And the more people watching the better, y'know. Just shup up."

He still looked shocked, he stared at me and Alyera for a couple of seconds while I ignored him completely and Alyera seemed to wish that she was somewhere else.

"Can I at least have a drink?"

"Who said anything? Did you hear that, Alyera?"

"Yuffie, can I please have a drink? Please?"

"What? Ooh, it's _you_! Hi Reno, why yes of course, you can have a drink! What may I serve you?"

"...Just give me something with lots of alcohol."

"One Turkeyskin ordered! Sorry, I meant Gooseskin."

I mixed Reno's drink, gave it to him, took his money and then went back to pretending he wasn't there.

"Y'know Alyera, it's amazing how the Turks could ever get so respected among the people, since all they do is dirty jobs that nobody else would be stupid enough to do, plus they all seem to be morons..."

I glanced at Reno. To my big surprise, he wasn't looking offended. Instead, he had his eyes on something behind my right shoulder.

"Hiya Vincent! Long time no see, eh?"

I spun around. Yup, the Lord of Emo was standing in front of me, and he did _not_ look happy.

"...But the Turks of old y'know like thirty years ago were good guys and smart and cool and badass...?"

Vincent glared at me. He was not amused, and did not accept my apology.

"Come on Vince! You know that I didn't mean you! I was just annoying Reno!"

"Hn. I'm going out for a while", he said, and then swept away like a ghost clad in blood.

"Sheez..." I muttered. "Alyera, let me warn you: the people around here are more or less weird. You have a tough time ahead of you."

"Hey princess, don't get her hopes up."

_**Kinda abrupt end I know, but I've gotta go to the bus and the computer's fucked up too for some reason so yeah. Review.**_

_**Love,**_

_**Shade Lamora**_


	7. Chapter 6: Childhood Friend

_**Okay. I'm the latest ever. Story time! In February, there's this one week holiday, and I was all like 'Yay I can write two more chapters :D' But what did I do? I GOT A COLD. So I couldn't write at all, 'cause everything I write when ill get crappy. So, when I got better, I was tired after the cold, and my writing mood had completely faded away, and then the real fun started. Because all my techers decided 'TESTS!' so I was stuck with losta tests to study for. Two weeks ago, I had five. FIVE TESTS. Tired after that, anyone? So, basically, I was too tired to write anything at all, and I didn't have the time either. But now I'm back, my writing mood is back, and hopefully I won't have as many tests for a while. So, extra super-long chapter up for ya! It's cute, it's dramatic, it's grave serious drama, it's maybe even a little fluffy. FLUFF! Gotta love it.**_

_**DISCLAIMER: Because I always forget these, don't I? Well, anyway, I don't own Final Fantasy VII. And I don't own the Kingdom Hearts characters that appear as random-people-on-the-street, either. Even though Luxord does look Swedish. A lot. He's still not mine, sigh.**_

_**EnJoY!**_

_Chapter 6: Childhood Friend_

Tifa gave me and Alyera 5000 gil each (which made Alyera blush and stammer about not being able to take so much money and blah blah until I told her to shut up and look happy) and said to have fun. I decided that we were going to eat at a café too, and didn't care what my new friend thought. I highly doubted that she had ever been to a café, and that's almost sacreligious. To what religion I don't know, but still.

We slowly walked down the streets of Edge, looking at the people around us, the few trees and flowers, enjoying the warmth of the sun. It was August, and the weather couldn't have been any better. While we were walking, I pointed out different places to Alyera.

"That's where Vincent bought his mobile phone...though he never got the concept, he told Cloud to tell me that I had no right to call him, 'cause it was _his_ phone... That's the best weapons store in Edge! Some of my favourite shuriken are from there. They also repair your weapons if they're broken... Don't go to that accessory shop, the owner is a filthy old man who gives young girls inappropriate suggestions... And _that's_ where we'll be going!"

I pointed out the goal of our little travel through Edge, a clothes store I had been to a couple of times before. They had really nice clothes, at least according to my taste, and hopefully we'd be able to find Alyera something there too. I dragged her with me into the boutique, and immediately started looking for some decent clothing. I found a stand with tank tops, which I took out to look at one after another.

"Nope. No. Not my colour. Ugly. Hmm...good. Good. No. Lovely! Not this one. Not this one either. But this one, yes! And this one. And that one."

I glanced at Alyera. She was just standing there, looking at me, confused.

"Umm...Alyera? Is there a problem? You never seen anyone speedshop before?"

"I-I..." Oh great, she was stuttering again, "I have never..._shopped_...before. I was brought fabric, and then I had to sew my clothes myself."

"You fucking kidding me?"

"N-no..."

"Oh geez. Never did I expect that I would have to teach a girl how to shop. Look, just walk around and if you see something you like, then try it on, and if it fits and isn't too expensive, then buy it. Okay?"

"Okay." She nodded with a serious look on her face, and started walking around loking at the clothes. She acted like a robot programmed to take a shirt from its stand with regular intervals, look at it and hang it back. I sighed, decided to give her some time while picking out clothes for myself, and then go help her. She wasn't going to get anywhere in life if she couldn't even buy clothes.

When I had found some tops of various models – a white, a light blue, one in different shades of green mixing together, and a purple one with a red flower on it – I started looking for shorts. I was not going to break my trend of wearing tight tops and the shortest shorts in the history of short-short shorts. It was harder to find nice shorts, though. All people didn't love them as much as I do. There were mostly white and black ones, but I found a pair of beige ones and a pair with camouflage pattern, so I grabbed them and a pair of white shorts too, and then decided go go check on Alyera.

I found her standing looking at a long dress in crimson with golden linings. She looked like she was afraid of touching it, as if it would break if she did. It was a nice dress, I guess; I've never been one for dresses or skirts at all. It had the same colour as blood (which reminded me of Vince, and for some strange reason it felt like my heart jumped a beat), had a tight bodice in corset style with lacing in the back, a wide skirt that would reach halfway down her shins if Alyera wore it, it was shoulderless and decollete and on the bodice a pattern of golden embroidery created swirls which looked like morning mist illuminated by a rising sun. The hem at the bottom of the dress was adorned with a decimetre-thick border of the same twisting gold patterns.

"It's nice", I told her. She jumped and squeaked, apparently she hadn't noticed me approaching because she was so into staring in awe at the dress. "Chill down girl, it's only me. You gonna try that on or what? It'd prolly look awesome on you."

"B-but...it is so...elegant. Beautiful. Luxurious. Are you sure a commoner like me is allowed to buy it?"

"You fucking kidding me? We're not living in a class society, Alyera! Anyone can buy it if they want to. And you can touch it, it won't break if you do. You want it or not? Whass the price?"

"Yes...I want it. I love it. But it costs a thousand gil!"

"And?"

"That is a fifth of the money Tifa gave me..."

"And?"

"I-it is so much..."

"_And?_ You don't have to pay for food or living, so those gil are for what you wanna buy, nothing else. I you want it, get it. It's a real nice dress. It's gonna look good on you..." Alyera still looked unsure. "Go try it on goddammit!"

"I will."

Carefully, as if holding a newborn baby, she took the dress from its stand and looked around.

"The cabins are over there. Come, I'll go with you. After all, I just hafta see how it looks."

We headed over to the fitting rooms, Alyera still holding the dress in an almost devout kinda way. I pushed her into one of the cabins, pulled the curtain shut and told her to be quick. She stuttered an answer, and I could her the sound of her unzipping her black dress. As always, strange thought wandered into my head.

Have you ever imagined how your friends – both male and female – would look naked? It sure is weird! For example, I have always been jealous of Tifa, because she's got the body every woman wants, while I had never had any boobs and probably would never get any. So imagining her take of her clothes and have hanging breasts that reached to her knees which she rolled together and put in a bra, kinda made me feel better, in a very sick way. But then of couse, I felt ashamed of my own thoughts and tried to make them go away, which was much harder than getting them in my head. Not to mention when I thought of how Vincent and Cloud would look naked...that made me blush like an idiot and giggle hysterically. The weirdest thought though, must be the realisation of that in order to get me, my parents had had sex. I just couldn't figure out how a pretty and graceful lady like my mother could ever sleep with a disgusting old man like Godo, even though I knew that he wasn't all that fat and old at the time that happened. It was still so weird, and scary.

So now I was trying my best to make the question 'how would Alyera look naked?' stay out of my head. Instead I managed to understand why she had that strange body shape. It was probably like this: Whilst living with her sexist dad, she hadn't done much exercising, thus becoming chubby. When she was suddenly thrown out and could no longer eat as much as before since she didn't have any money, she began to grow thin, starting with her face. She also began to fight with her katana, thus gaining muscles. The muscles in combination with the body fat she still had made her still look chubby, even though she'd be counted as perfect weight – according to how much people should weigh because of health reasons, not according to how pretty girls looked in newspapers and in commercials. I always thought is was weird. Why were skinny women considered beautiful? Some hundred years back, it was the buxom women who were seen as beautiful, because they had much more _shapes _than thin women. I liked being fit, but I would definitely not have anything against a little broader hips, thicker thighs and bigger boobs. I still had the body of a girl in her early teens, not that of the fully grown woman I actually was. I had finally faced the fact that I would be this short for the rest of my life. But if I could choose, I'd prefer being short, chubby, and have boobs and hips rather than being tall, skinny and without female shapes at all. Then again, tall and chubby wouldn't be totally wrong...

Alyera woke me up by coming out from the fitting room. I winced, and jumped.

"Crap, you scared me! Don't you ever do..."

Then I got completely silent. Alyera was stunning. The gold and crimson in the dress stood in perfect contrast to the silver and emerald in her hair and eyes. It looked...perfect. I couldn't find another word for it. She smiled shyly and shrugged, as if to ask me how it looked.

"Ohmigawdz you're so beautiful!" I yelled and started jumping up and down, only to finish my move with giving her a big hug. "You like it? You've gotta buy it, it's perfect on you!"

"Thank you, Yuffie. I like it, too. Do you think it is worth the money?"

"Of course! Now you have to say what you think of my clothes, and then we'll find you some more stuff 'cause you can't have only one dress, and then we go somewhere else. After we've paid."

I tried on all of the clothes I had picked, and they suited me perfectly in every way possible – style, colours and size. Alyera gave her approval to them all, but I never doubted that she wouldn't. I would've been shocked if she had told me I looked bad in any of the stuff I tried on. When we were done, we went to find her some more clothing. Basically, I pulled top after top from the stands, said 'whaddaya think?', decided it wasn't good and hung it back. Then, after fifteen or so minutes, I had found a black, tight t-shirt, a white chemise, a black knee-long skirt and a pair of dark blue jeans. Alyera said no as politely as possible to every colourful thing I could find, so I had to put up with the fact that she wasn't going to wear anything else than black, white and that dress. But at least we had enough clothes now, as long as Tifa was quick enough to wash the laundry there wouldn't be a problem.

I dragged her with me to the underwear department. There I grabbed her three pairs of socks after getting her size; a pair of white ones, identical black ones, and a pair of knee-highs in black. I also found some more colourful for myself.

"Last on the checklist: panties and bras. What's your cup size? I'm sure we can find some boring bras in dishwater grey or something..." Then I noticed that she was blushing furisously. "What's the problem? You don't know your size or what?"

"Yuffie... Is that really something you should talk about in public?"

"So that's your problem? Talking about your underwear size in a shop? Come on! It's not like anybody cares! What's the big deal?"

"I-it's just that...it is such a private thing...and it is embarrassing."

"Geez, it's not! I could prove it to you by sceaming my own size as loud–"

"No, no, no, no! Please don't! I-I will stop thinking it is embarrassing..."

"Yeah, and start talking like normal people. Seriously, only you and Vince say 'it is' instead of 'it's'. It sounds really stupid y'know."

"Okay..."

"Good. Now what's your size? You've got pretty big boobs, I'd say C. Hey, grab a few and go see if they fit. I'll be looking for some small B sizes...damn these dwarfed tits." I ignored Alyera's red face, and went away. Girl was gonna need some attitude if she was gonna live here.

I eventually found what I was looking for, and checked up on Alyera, who actually had found a couple of quite normal black lace bras, and now was looking at them with a confused facial expression.

"Whassup? Goin' well? All right, you've got yourself bras, good, now on to panties. Advise you're gonna need: Never wear string. Might be the most uncomfortable fucking shit ever. Now, briefs or hipsters are the ones you want. Maybe even boxers. Yes, there are boxers for girls nowadays, quite the fantastic society we live in, eh? Well, if you actually _want_ to have a strap in your ass then you could always try string, but I know I'll never again..."

I kept on rambling while Alyera blushed like a maniac, and searched like a blood hound for the best underwear. I have a good eye for seeing people's size, so I chose some panties for her and told her that the colour didn't matter, since no one was gonna see them anyway. I decided that I could say that to her, since I suspected it would take a long time before she got to a situation that involved her showing her underwear to someone who actually cared what she wore. If the guy even cared. Men were more likely to be busy staring at her boobs, not her panties. She agreed to buy pink, lilac, yellow and blue panties, not only the black and white ones. When I had found some for myself, we headed towards the in my opinion most unnecessary part of shops – the pay desk. Apparently, Alyera's fancy dress cost almost as much as the rest of her clothes together. It ended with 2240 gil for her, and 1975 gil for me.

"See", I said as we got out to the street again, both carrying bags with the shop's name written on them, "you bought that dress and you still have lotsa money left! Let's go buy shoes!"

We went to the nearest shoe store, where I immediately started looking for some cool sandals. I actually found a pair, to my big surprise, that I liked. They were red, looking like normal sandals but they had knee-high legs with zippers on the inside and open squares at the outside. I tried them on, and to my big glee they sat like a glove on my feet. Like a glove on a hand, that is. I happily waved my feet in front of me, and smiled at Alyera.

"Look good?"

"They do", she answered, nodding and smiling back at me. "They suit you very well. The red colour could represent your cheerfulness and energy as well as the blood from all the wars you have fought..."

She got quiet, shyly looking at me. I just stared at her.

"Wow, Alyera, that was really poetic y'know? You oughta write! Like, poetry, and stories and whatnot...That'd be awesome!"

"I-I am not so sure of that..." she said and blushed. Oh gawd. She couldn't even take compliments. I had a hard job ahead of me – making people outta this shy and subdued young woman. I silently praised Leviathan for making me the utterly awesome person I am. Had I not been the Singe White Rose of Wutai, the Champion of the Skies and the Earth, the Conquerer of Evil, the Great Ninja Yuffie Kisaragi, I would have been doomed to failure. But not now. Now I knew I was gonna succeed, no matter how long it would take. I would make Alyera have normal life even if it would take me a year. She deserved it, after everything she had gone trough. I felt so sorry for her, but I'm not the kinda person who goes 'Oh you poor thing, it's okay, I'm here for you and my shoulder's always available if you want to cry you know'. That's Tifa's job, and she does it with supremacy. My job is to yell 'Cheer up _now_ or I _will_ fuckin' bitchslap you 'cuz I'm yer pal an' I'm jus' tryin' t'help so _SMILE!_' at people when they're down, make them be happy because I'm threatening to cut them with my shuriken if they're not, or act like a clown and make them laugh whether they want it or not. I had always cheered up my former comrades-in-arms that way, and I had never abandoned my ways. I did wonder though, was it going to work this time? Alyera was a special case. The others had all grown up being taught to fight in different ways – even old man Reeve is a real fighter, after all he decided to turn traitor on the Shin-Ra and be our ally instead, and that musta been a mental fight for him, especially considering his age – whilst she had been taught to be the lowest-ranking in her family, keep her voice down, act like her father told her to and not talk about 'embarrassing' stuff. One thing I was sure of: Her mum never had the mother-to-daughter talk when Alyera began to get into the teens. She had never had those comforting 'What's happening to your body is perfectly normal sweetie, no sex unless you really want it and don't you ever let a boy force himself onto you because then you knee him in the groin and laugh while he walks away crying like a little girl, don't worry you'll find a boyfriend too one day the only reason you don't have one now is because you haven't found anyone good enough for you yet, and don't walk around thinking that all the other girls are much prettier than you because beauty is on the inside' talks, and I know I would want to have had them, even now when I was going to be twenty-one in a few months. Me and Alyera were so alike in that way; our old men sucked major, and we never had a mother-kinda figure in our lives. Oh well, I had Aerith and Teefs, but they weren't always there. They weren't there when mum was ill, when I saw her wither away and die, they weren't there to heal the broken relationship between Godo and me before it was too late, they weren't there when all of Wutai accused me for having brought Geostigma upon them... And all this made me feel even more sorry for Alyera. In fact, I just wanted to cry, right there in the shoe store, but of course I didn't. Instead I just glued on the biggest Yuffie-grin I could manage and said:

"Yes it would! Come on, gotta find shoes for you, girl."

And so I got up from the try-the-shoes-on-to-see-if-they-fit-bench, smiling and being energetic, hiding behind a happy facade, when my inner being wanted to scream out of hopelessness. That such evil towards people's own children existed! It made me so mad and so terribly sad I didn't know what to do, so I pretended like nothing bad ever happened to me and focused everything I had got on Alyera instead. I'm fleeing, I don't want to face my past and the memories of mum again, I don't want to think of my new friend's past, and hardly of her future either. Because it's hard for me - who can't look farther than my nose reaches – to see a happy one, one where Alyera is smiling and laughing and having fun, not caring whether her dad would approve of what she's doing or not. Just watching ner nervous movement from one shelf with shoes to another, seeing her twitch, wince and jump at every little sound, or whenever someone bumps into her, her gaze flying across the place like that of a deer looking out for wolves, makes me fill with despair. At the same time I realise that she can't possibly change if I'm gonna be like this, she'll have no chance in hell, I need to keep on smiling, and when I've done that for a while, when it comes automatically without the feeling that something's dying in me, then I will have lied so much to myself that I'll believe my own charade. And that's when Alyera gets her chance. When my feelings are gone, and can flash grins at her all the time and make her feel like everything's perfectly fine and that there's not a worry in the entire world, then she will have an excellent opportunity to take a part, how small it may be, of that illusion. The thing is, she won't know it's an illusion, and she'll be happy. She'll smile, and when she does, my fake one will wear off and be replaced with a true one. Until then, I have to be who everyone think I am; Yuffie who's never sad, happy-go-lucky Yuffie, Yuffie who's still a child and doesn't understand the graveness of certain matters. Yes, that was my task. And I was going to complete it, for my own sake, and for Alyera's sake. Her smile, when it is a pure smile made of joy directly from her heart, is gonna be worth the struggle to get there. I had made my decision, cost whatever it would, I was going to make her a happy person. It began now, here, in this shoe store.

"Okay, what kinda shoes do you like? I mean, it's summer, you can't walk around in those boots, am I right or what? You're gonna need like, sneakers or sandals or whatever... let's have a look around, and tell me if you see anything you like. Is it okay with you if I give you suggestions? If you don't like it, then just say no, m'kay?"

She nodded, and when we started looking for the prefect pair of shoes for her, she kept close to me, as if she feared the other cheery shoppers would attack her, and eat her brain.

"Y'know, people in stores don't tend to drink the blood of others. Only Vince does things like that, and that's only when he thinks no-one sees him. But I see...I see everything 'cause I've got incredibly kickassial major-ruling ninja sight of awesomeness. How about these?"

I showed her a pair of tan leather sandals with stripes of soft skin all over them. They felt comfy and looked stylish, but not too stylish, not snobbish-sylish. They weren't too expensive either.

"I do not know...I am not very fond of brown, I am afraid."

"'Kay, not them, then. Start using abbreviations as much as possible, it sound weird when you talk like old fancy people. These?"

I held up a pair of purple baskets for her to look at. She stared and shook her head.

"I get it, no baskets. What else have we got that looks like they're from at least the last century...I'll be damned, those were some neat shoes!"

I pointed at a pair of silver shoes in soft leather, they had the shape of ordinary ballet shoes, but there was a pattern of small flowers cut-out in them. They were discrete, the kind of shoes you don't exactly notice but when you do you realise they're damn good-looking.

"They's be awesome with your new clothes, and look, they're the same colour as your hair, could it possibly be better? Come on, try them on, okay? They're gonna look so good at you, Alyera."

She agreed to try them, and it was her turn on the bench. They did fit her, and they suited her wonderfully. I jumped up and down clapping my hands like a five-year-old.

"Oh yay! They're perfect, please tell me you like them, you're so cute in them, they're absolutely _lovely_, please please please like them pretty please?"

"I do like them. They are nice."

"Yay! We buy them and everything's gonna be awesome y'know, those shoes and the clothes we bought before are the beginning of your new life here with me and Teef and the kids so come on lets go pay! You'll be fine with just one pair of shoes for the moment, when it starts getting colder we can buy new ones, come on to the pay desk _now_!"

I pushed her in front of me all the way, and I didn't calm down until she had paid and it was my turn. I handed over the money with uncharacteristic joy; I'm a stealing ninja, I like to take money, not to give it.

"I'm hungry, let's go to a café or something," I said as we walked out from the shop. I didn't care whether she wanted to or not, but instead dragged her with me along the street. As we reached a small square, I saw a clock sitting at the wall of a fancy handbag shop. When realising how much time we had spent shopping without us (at least me) even noticing it, I stopped wondering how come I was hungry - as I had thought 'already'.

"Oh dear Leviathan, it's almost five o'clock! Damn, we must be much bigger shoppaholics than we thought we were, having spent like...long time in those stores. You must be hungry too by now, c'mon let's hurry to that café and get us some food! I hope they have some handsome waiters too 'cause I could really need some eye-candy right now. No, it's not wrong to say stuff like that, as long as you judge people by their insides, not the surface."

We continued along the shopping street, until I saw a sign hanging above a door in a small alley to our left. _Café The Creamcloud_, it read.

"Creamcloud? Sounds hippie enough, let's go there!" I exclaimed and went into the minimal alley, which was surrounded on two sides by tall brick buildings, with the tiny café squeezed in between them, its light brownish grey sandstone looking like it belonged in a village like Kalm, not Edge. There was a small window next to the door, and as far as I could see, the interior looked nice. I grinned at Alyera, opened the door and let her enter first before closing it behind us.

It smelled like newly baked bread, tea, coffee, cookies and chocolate, all at the same time. There was a small desk in front of us, and to both sides of it glass monters with all sorts of deliciousnesses on their shelves. To the right there was an entrance to a rather small room filled with couches and chairs in dark honey wood with crimson clothing, grouped around several tables in the same warm brown colour. The lower part of the window was covered by a curtain of thick, velvet-like fabric in a slightly deeper red than that of the furniture. I could only see two guests; a young couple sitting in the far left corner, both leaning over their table and talking, looking very much in love. The boy, who was facing me, slowly stirred in his cup, watching his girlfriend's every move like that was what fed him instead of food. I doubted he had even noticed me and Alyera coming into the café. One who _had_, was the man standing behind the desk. He seemed to be maybe twenty-two or twenty-three, he had platinum blond hair, light blue eyes, a tuned goatee, some softly glimmering silver earrings and damn, he had _muscles_. He smiled at us, bowed and spread his arms.

"How may I be of service, ladies?"

Alyera seemed to be shocked by the fact that men could be polite, but I had met some nice guys before in my life, so I just smiled back at him.

"Hello! We're here for a very late lunch inbetween the shopping, can you recommend us anything? We're sooo hungry, and choosing something by myself would take me ages!"

"Well then ladies, newly baked bread made of sungrass flour, seasoned with thorndew-berries, and filled with cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, egg, ham and mozzarella. Sound good enough for two fancy ladies like yourselves?"

I giggled in that special kinda way that'll make any guy feel like he's something extra, and nodded enthusiatically.

"Yeah, that sounds good enough, definitely! Right?" I looked at Alyera, and she nodded. "Yep, two of those yummilicious-sounding sandwiches please! I want tea, Wutai-style. What do you want?"

"I-I'd like some tea, too..." Alyera stuttered.

"What flavour? I've got vanilla, forestberries, strawberry, jasmine..."

"J-jasmine would b-be fine, please."

"All right then, ladies! Just have a seat and I'll bring you your tea and sandwiches as soon as I can."

I smiled ever more brightly at him.

"Thank you...um..." I looked at the little badge on his chest. His very muscular chest. "...Luxord."

I flashed off a last cute and girly grin before taking Alyera with me into the parlour. I looked around, not being able to decide where to sit.

"Where do you wanna sit?"

"By the window."

Her answer was quick, her voice steady and without the slightest sign of stammering. I looked at her, surprised, and she shyly met my gaze.

"I-I mean...Please? I like to watch people walk by..."

"Of course we can sit there, I asked you, didn't I? You don't have to say 'please' if I let you choose, especially not if we're friends, and we are, right? By the window it is, then."

We sat down, me facing the desk. Now I could oh-so-innocently glance at Luxord every now and then. Across the room behind me the young couple giggled and kept speaking in low voices. It was rather cute, because it seemed like the only thing they were talking about was what they liked in the other.

"I love your beautiful eyes, and your smile, and your laughter is like a purling brook, and your hands are so soft, and you're so smart, and so kind..."

I smiled to myself; it wasn't very often you got to hear a teenage boy talk like that. I had judged their age to about sixteen when looking for a table.

"So, then Alyera. Do you want me to tell my story? It's long, I know, but it's awesome and exciting and thrilling and everything."

She nodded.

"Okay. Is it cool with you if I call you Allie? Alyera's so long to say." She nodded again. "Great! Well then, Allie... Where to begin? I guess it's best I take it from the beginning. Okay, here goes. I'm born in Wutai, November 20th, 1991. The year after I was born, the Wutai war started. The Shin-Ra wanted to build mako reactors in our land, but we didn't want their Lifestream-killing machines there, so we fought them. When I was four, mum got ill. I don't know what was wrong with her, but she...withered away. She died when I was six. Three years later, the war ended, Wutai lost and turned into a vacation resort. Being the princess wasn't worth anything anymore, because I didn't exactly have a country. It was Shin-Ra that ruled Wutai, dad was just the face that gave the orders when President Shinra pulled the strings.

Still nonetheless, I _was_ the princess, and dad believed that a good education would make me able to save our country one day. You see, we got this pagoda, and it has five floors. Every floor has its champion, my old man's on the highest one. Dad's got four right hands, and they are the Masters of Power, Speed, Magic, and Weapons as well as a floor each. They were my teachers, especially Chekov, and she was the one I liked the best. Gorki tried to teach me about history and other boring stuff, Shake tried to teach me...well, I really don't know what that silly little man was trying to make me understand. Staniv was supposed to teach me maths and how to behave properly, and he failed hard at both. Chekov gave me basic skills in combat, and also taught me about some more interesting things, like how to survive in the wilderness, or Wutai traditions – not the boring ones, Chekov was smart enough to understand that I wouldn't learn anything anyway if I didn't like it, so she only told me about the interesting ones, and also about the Leviathan legend. That's an awesome story, I've gotta tell it someday. Anyway, I also started to train to become a ninja. Actually the most of the training I did on my own. Basically, you could say I'm self-learned.

So, when I was a fully-fledged ninja, dad sent me away. He wanted me to gather as much materia as possible, because we both believed in that materia would save Wutai. And so one day when I was prowling around Junon, I found this group of five wanderers. I tried to fight them, but well, they were five, I was one. They were grown-ups and much more experienced than me, who was only sixteen. Oh well, Nanaki would've been my age if he was human, but he was so mature. So, um, yeah, they beat me. I agreed to join them, my only reason to steal their materia. That was when my journey, the journey of my life, began."

I was interrupted by Luxord who came with our food. The sandwiches were huge and smelled wonderfully, I could feel the sweet thorndew-berry scent even though the tea smelled a lot too.

"Your 'lunch', ladies. Enjoy!"

"I'm sure we will, thanks a lot!" I said and grinned. He smiled back at me and walked back to the desk, being watched by me all the time. "Damn that's one sexy piece of ass," I whispered to Alyera, who got a little red but giggled. I took the first bite of my sandwich and was immediately overcome by the extreme deliciousness. "This is so good!" I said with my mouth full.

I ate one fourth of the huge filled bread before continuing with my storytelling, taking a bite or a sip every now and then. I didn't exactly notice that the young couple stopped chatting after some time, and instead sat quiet, listening. I told Alyera everything, from the battles we fought to the bickering in the evenings, when we tried to decide who were gonna share a tent. Being somewhat of an outsider, I often ended up having to endure Cid's and Barret's snores all night without getting any sleep at all.

"Have you any idea what it souns like? Okay, it's like a two-man orchestra. Barret is the brass part, he sounds like a roaring bear, or a malfunctioning tank, or a chainsaw, or when he does those strange bassoon-sounds in his nose, and then he would randomly go rolling thunder and start bellowing like a horny behemoth for hours. Cid was the string part, he made these wheezing sounds, and then he whistled, and made this _wheeeeeeeooouwww_ sound, and he was darn good at imitating a Jas Gripen-plane, too. In the morning, I was so tired I thought I'd fall down and die on the spot, but I forced myself to keep on walking, thinking of all the lovely materia that hopefully waited for me at journey's end."

Then I continued with telling about when I stole their materia, but they chased me down and forgave me like the wonderful and nice people they are, and how I fought all my former teachers and eventually my own father in the pagoda, acquiring the power of Leviathan after having done so. I told about the Temple of the Ancients, and Aerith's death. I could hear my voice trembling when I did, but I managed to refrain from crying. I continued with how our search for Sephiroth brought us north, to the Northen Crater, and then back to Junon. I told about the Weapons of the Planet, about the submarines, about our repeated meeting with the Turks who seemed to be just about everywhere. I described the planet's core and our final battle with Sephiroth in detail, especially how the Lifestream arrived to aid us when we thought that all was lost, that our seemingly neverending struggle had been in vain. Without any notable pauses, I proceeded with the second Jenova War, and after that the DeepGround War. When I got to the part when Shalua gave her life to save her sister, the tears were trying to force their way down my cheeks, but I fought them back and did my best to keep my voice steady. I told Alyera about my worry, when I thought that Vincent was dead, but when I did, I felt something strange inside me. It was as if the mere memory of that uncertanity made me worry again. How curious.

When I was done, I took a deep breath and smiled at Allie.

"Done story-telling. Sure took me some time."

"Excuse me..." a girl's voice said. "Are you Yuffie Kisaragi?"

I turned my head. The teenage couple, a blond boy with spikes that looked like Cloud's but smaller, and an even blonder girl, both with striking blue eyes, was standing next to our table, blushing and fidgeting.

"Yeah, I am", I answered.

"Oh!" the girl cried out, smiling. "Can I please have your autograph?" She nervously held up a piece of paper and a pencil.

"Of course you can!" I said, taking the paper and scribbling down my utterly awesome signature on it. "What's your name?"

"Naminé!"

"Okay. 'To...Naminé'. There you go."

"Can I have one too?" the boy asked.

"Sure thing! Name?"

"Roxas!"

"Alrighty! 'To...Roxas'. There!"

"Thank you so much, miss Kisaragi!" the girl said, shining like the sun, before both she and her boyfriend almost rushed out of the café.

"Damn, I'm famous around here, eh?" I said, watching the couple walk away through the window.

"Seems so. You ladies done eating?"

Luxord came up to our table, and took our tea cups and plates without answer when he saw that they were empty.

"Yep, we are. I'd like to pay, too."

"Well then, lessee... For two pretty ladies like you, it's a hundred gil even. And an autograph."

I grinned as I gave him one as well as the money. He bowed as thanks, and even followed us to the door.

"Nice to have you here. Come back some time!"

"Yeah, we will if we need a good café!" I answered as me and Alyera walked down the alley towards the main street.

As we blended together with the masses again, I started laughing. I couldn't stop it, it was so hilarious everything; the shopping, the café, Luxord, the autographs... Alyera looked at me, worry shining in her emerald eyes.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"Yeah...that guy, Luxord...he was just so funny. That's all. Let's head home."

She nodded. "Home". I had called 7th Heaven home, and she had nodded without reacting. Maybe this was our new home, for both her and me. Maybe we'd both find shelter from the raging storms there. Maybe there'd be someone who'd love us, take care of us and appreciate us there. Yeah. There would. At 7th Heaven, there would always be pople who'd welcome us with open arms, letting us into their family, defend us. People who'd let us have our home there. Everyone needs a home, no matter how many travels they've been on, no matter how many friends they have who'll let them sleep on the couch, no matter if they moved from home years ago. Everybody need a safe place to return to, whenever they want. A place that'll greet them with joy, making them feel secure. My home, and Alyera's, was now 7th Heaven. And who could ever know, maybe we'd stay there for years? I wouldn't mind. And I hoped that Alyera wouldn't either.

-TWR&TH-

When we reached the bar, it was well over eight o'clock. We hadn't exactly made haste when walking back, instead we took an unnecessary long route through a small park, past some more shops and Marlene and Denzel's school. We entered 7th Heaven panting, since all the bags we carried made it hard and very unomfortable to walk. Tifa looked up at us from behind the bar counter, smiling when she saw us.

"Had fun, girls?"

"Yeah!" I responded. "We gotta go get these things upstairs, if you don't mind."

"Not at all. Proceed, employees!" she laughed.

We headed upstairs, ending up in my room where we fell down on the floor, exhausted. Alyera had been given one of the unused guest rooms, it didn't have much furniture except the bed, so my room was much comfier. I started digging in my bags, happy like a child on Christmas.

"Let's try it on, and go show Teefs!" I exclaimed. "Put on that dress and the shoes, you're gonna be gorgeous."

Alyera nodded and carefully took the box the dress was in from its bag and placed it on the floor. With a religious look on her face, she lifted the lid off and took the dress from its hiding. It was fun watching her, since she still seemed to believe it would break. I turned my eyes to my own clothes, and decided to flash everybody with my stunning beauty dressed in the white shorts, the white tank top and the boots. Without thinking, I pulled my dirty top over my head. When it lay on the floor, I noticed the huge blush on Alyera's face and how she turned away.

"Oh for Leviathan's sake! We're both female, aren't we?" I yelled, and managed to crawl out of the shorts too, before even taking off my sandal boots first. Then, when sitting in just my underwear (which Vincent had seen, I remembered and blushed slightly myself) and ignoring Alyera, I put on the new clothes, after removing the price tags. It felt lovely to wear something new and clean and fresh, for a change.

"Hey Allie, you gonna change or what? Come on, don't be shy – if you go to the beach, it's the same thing, only in a bikini." I knowingly overlooked the fact that when Vince had told me just that not so long ago, I had disagreed with him.

Still red in her face, Alyera got out of her dress and then quickly put on the new one, and finished with putting on the silver shoes too.

"Great! Come, let's go show Teef, and then we move your stuff into your room – good thing you have a wardrobe – and then there will be only peace and happiness in the world come on now!"

I dragged her with me downstairs. Tifa turned her head when she heard us coming, and squealed with joy when she saw us.

"Oh you're both so beautiful!"

"Yeah I know! And it's all thanks to me 'cause without me Allie wouldn't have bought a thing, especially not that dress but I told her she looked gorgeous innit so she did and then we bought these awesome shoes look and then we went to this really hippie name café and there was this dude there and he was like all muscles and eye-candy and there were these cute teenagers there and they asked for my autograph because I told Allie everything about our travels and then..."

-TWR&TH-

It was not until ten, when we started getting ready for bed while Teefs closed the bar, that I realised something.

"Ohmigosh! Allie, we forgot to buy nightgowns! Whaddar we gonna do?"

Alyera stared at me, the horrible truth sinking in.

"Okay, don't panic", I said. "I'mma ask Teef if she's got two to spare."

I went downstairs. Tifa was just locking the door, and turned to face me when she heard my footsteps.

"Tifa, we forgot to buy nightgowns. Do you have any?"

"Oh, I'm sorry, but I only have two, and I need one for myself..."

"Hmm, okay, Allie can have the other one, then? As for me...does Cloud have any t-shirts that are big enough for me to sleep in? I figure sleeping in a tank top won't be very comfy."

"I'm sorry Yuffie, Cloud's not the t-shirt kind of guy, and the few he's actually got are quite tight, and since he's not all that much taller than you..."

"Okay, they'd be too small to use as a nightgown. Crap."

"But I think Vincent has some t-shirts I bought for him ages ago, he hardly never uses them...you could ask him to borrow one."

"Yeesh, sleeping in Vincent's clothes? What if I wake up only to find that I've got pointy teeth and a sudden lust for blood?" Teef glared at me. "Okay, I'll ask Mouldy", I sighed. Guess it was better than nothing, and anything in Vince-size would be much to big for me, so one of his t-shirts would probably be a perfect nightgown. But I wasn't going to admit that to him.

I went upstirs again, gathered some courage and then walked over to Vince's door and knocked. He opened within seconds. Was he like, standing behind the door all the time, ready to assault people who went by? He looked at me questioningly.

"Ehh...um, well, the problem is this: Me and Alyera forgot to buy nightgowns, and Teefs only have two, so I don't have anything comfy to sleep in, so Teef told me to ask you if I could borrow a t-shirt...?"

I tried not to blush and die, this was so awkward, but Vinnie only nodded and went back into the darkness in his room. After half a minute he returned with a black t-shirt, which he gave me.

"There. It should be big enough for you to use as a nightgown."

"Thanks, Vince. I'll give it back once I've bought a real one."

He only nodded again, and closed the door. I went back to my room, slowly, clutching the piece of clothing in my hands. When standing next to my bed, I quickly undressed, but hesitated before putting on the shirt. Looking around the room for uninvited guests stalking in the shadows, I lifted it to my face and inhaled the smell. It smelled just like Vincent; dark chocolate, cinnamon, and sun-warm raspberries. There also was a scent that reminded me of earth, when it's just rained. I sat down on the bed, still with my face buried in the fabric. I liked the smell. It made me feel warm and safe, it made me think of Vincent's clumsy try to comfort me on the boat. It made me think of that time in Aerith's curch, when her water cured Denzel's Geostigma, and I had turned to Vince to ask him if it wasn't wonderful, and saw that he actually was smiling. That was the first time I had ever seen him do that, and it had stunned me completely. The memory made me smile, and I drew a deep breath. Then I suddenly realised what I was doing. Okay, this felt weird, really weird. Vincent was my buddy, my comrade-in-arms, my eternal victim for picking on. And now I was like, using his t-shirt as blanket? Wrong, wrong, wrong. I acted as if I was in love with him, and I sure as hell was _not. _Never. Absolutely negative. I unfolded the shirt, stared at it. It was a normal, black piece of clothing, nothing else. Now it was gonna be my nightgown for some time. Yeah. It was a t-shirt. A normal t-shirt. Nothing else. Stupid Vincent, smelling like chocolate. I put it on, and crawled down under my duvet. Even now, when I was wearing it, I could feel the smell. Damn that vampire.

_Oh well,_ I thought, _at least I'll sleep good with this on._

-TWR&TH-

It was near midnight when I suddenly woke up. Alyera was standing next to my bed, dressed in Tifa's a little too small white nightgown. She looked like a ghost in the pale moonlight, which illuminated her silver hair and ivory skin. I squeaked out of surprise, and she immediately brought her hands together, a worried expression on her face.

"Oh I am so sorry, did I scare you? It was not my intention, forgive me, Yuffie!"

"Yeah, I will, if you just tell me what the hell you're doing in my room?"

"It is just that...I could not sleep, and then I came to realisation of something. I understood why we felt like we had met before. We have! Do you not remember? In Wutai, during the first years of the war. The fence between us, you were dirty because you had run from home and fallen into a mud pool..."

I sat up in the bed. The memories came flahing back, everything. I remembered the little girl who was trapped in her garden, surrounded by that fence. Her huge blue-green eyes and her hair, like gold in the sunshine. She knew a little Wutai, I knew a little Common. And since her name wasn't writable or pronouncable in Wutai, she had presented herself as...

"Ariera?"

"Yes, Yuffie! So, you do too remember! For a few days, you always came to visit me, even though I was never allowed outside of the garden. Then the war accelerated, and we moved from Wutai because it was not safe there... I was five. It was one year before..."

"Yeah...I remember now. I remember how you looked. But you're prettier now. Not many people have that hair colour. I remember everything! My mother was very ill, and I worried a lot, but talking to you made me happy, you were my best friend, until you disappeared...I never understood why or to where, but just two weeks later, mum died, and I forgot about you, like children do. It's really you! Amazing!"

She nodded, smiling. Then she grabbed my hands between her own.

"We were destined to meet again, Yuffie. After all, we are childhood friends."

_**Sooo... What do ya think? Like it? Hate it? Review either way! Oh I know, Alyera's an annoying innocent little bitch, isn't she? But just you see, some time with Yuffie and she's sure to change...to the better, let's hope. And I could sooo imagine Luxord running a café with a hippie name. I love that man. I thought of having Sora and Kairi as the teenage couple at first, but since I really don't like any of them, I chose their Nobodies instead 'cause they kick major ass. Maybe more KH characters will appear later when I need more random-people-on-the-street. Especially Organization XIII, I love them. Xemnas = failed poet, anyone? Oh, and I figure they don't have Jas planes on Gaia...but whatever, they're Swedish, so am I. And you've gotta admit it; imagining your parents having sex is the weirdest thing. The guys in my class sometimes discuss that subject very loudly in the corridors. Yeah, well, anyway. Hope you like it. I'll be faster with updates in the future, hopefully. School finishes in two months, so then...no more tests! YAY!1!1!1!1!11!1! I hate tests. Especially since I cry if I get anything lower than 'passed with distinguish'. That's why tests make me so tired; I worry myself crazy. Don't do that, kids! 'Tis not good for you!**_

_**Love,**_

_**Shade Lamora**_


	8. Chapter 7: Storytelling

_**Heya guys! I'm real fast this time. Not much action in this chapter, but we get to know the main characters better! Especially Alyera...ooh, the mysterious little girl. Is she really as innocent as she seems? I can tell you that now: Yes, she is. Most definitely. Oh yeah, there'll be some Yuffie embarrassment too...simply because I was evil when I wrote it. Mwahahahaa! Anyway, enjoy or despair. Your choice.**_

_**DISCLAIMER: Blaha blaha I ain't owning nothing.**_

**Chapter 7: Storytelling**

Me and Alyera were standing in the bar the following day. I took care of the customers as much as possible, since I knew that she needed to get accustomed slowly. When we didn't have anyone to take orders from or serve, we asked each other questions. Or rather, I got the idea, and forced her to do it.

"Come on! It'll be fun - we'll get to know lots of neat stuff about the other, and friends need to know lots of neat stuff about one another! Okay, I'll start. Hmm. What's your favourite colour?"

"Oh...that is hard to answer. I like many colours. But I think my favourites are black, white and crimson."

"Explain why!"

"Oh, I do not think I can do that very good, Yuffie! I think... I think that I like black and white because they are pure, clean and true, they represent light and darkness, of which there must always be equal amounts to keep a balance in the world. They also are the colours of life and death, between which there must also be a balance. Too many lives would be the death of this world. Only through death can new lives be born, because of the constant flow of souls in the Lifestream. Crimson...the colour of blood, as well as the colour of both life and death, for without blood, one cannot live, and when it leaves the body, death approaches hastily. It is also the colour of war and love, that yet again have a connection with life and death. This balance, these forces equal in strength, fascinates me, and thus the colours attract me."

"Wow, Allie..." I said, staring at her in awe. "I'mma say it again; you oughta write! I could never come up with an explanation like that, and mind you, I'm the White Rose of Wutai! Seriously, that was...awesome. Great. Fantastic."

"Thank you", she said, blushing. "Now, allow me to ask you the very same question: Which is your favourite colour?"

"I'll have to do like you and say more than one. I like green, because it's the colour of the grass, trees and flower leaves of my country, and I like blue, because it's the colour of the sky reflecting in the seas and rivers belonging to Leviathan, and I like yellow, because it's the colour of the sun that gives life to the world, and shines upon the vast plains and crumbling mountains of Wutai. Heh, I guess that even though I've fled it, I still love my homeland more than anything."

"That was very poetic too, Yuffie. You could write as well."

"Yeah, maybe. But I'm not good at being poetic very often. Me speaking like you or Vince...that just won't occur very frequently. Let's move on with the questions! Lessee...your fave number? Lucky number, maybe?"

"Thirteen", she said, without any hesitation. "It is said to be the number of misfortune, and...I would not say that my life has been blessed by Lady Luck..."

"You know what? That's great. That means you've started to accept the fact that your old man oughta be killed or put to sleep. Good girl. Just because he's your father doesn't mean that you have to like him, I mean, I don't like mine."

"Perhaps this is so. If it is the case, I would be most grateful. What is your favourite number, then?"

"Seven! Ever heard of 'All Lucky Sevens'? We entered that particular mode sometimes, and we felt great! We got so strong, and all our attacks seemed to do exactly the same amount of damage, until we was healed or hit, and it disappeared. If I recall, Reeve said something about Cait Sith and sevens...or did he? I dunno. Anyway, that robot kitty could give us similar power boosts too, sometimes. He was a little unreliable, though. He once managed to knock out the whole party, and we who were stand-bys had to Phoenix Down them quickly as hell before the monsters killed them. Reeve and his silly inventions... Okay, I'll continue. Your favourite...style of music?"

"I don't know."

"You _don't know?_"

"I never listened to music. My father did not find it necessary for my upbringing, and he did not like music, so we never listened to it in any form."

"Holy Leviathan! Poor you! Music is like, life. It's so wonderful to listen to your favourite song when you're down, or to hum it when bored...geez, I can't even imagine a life mithout music! We'll simply have to change that, don't we? As for me, I like anything that's Wutai. Call me a nationalist, but that's just the way it is. No music...damn. Oh well, let's carry on. Your fave animal!"

"Oh...let me think. I would say...a dragon. Dragons are fierce fighters with great stength, the mightiest beings on the planet. They have excelling prowess in battle, and are matched by only the most experienced warriors. They are also proud, and if anybody injures that pride, the dragon retaliates with tremendous force, and then spend several days healing the invisible, abstract wounds. They are graceful and swift in their movements, masters of evading but also fully capable of dealing blows with extreme power behind. They are aesthetically beautiful and perfected, and a single flap of their strong wings can carry them up to fifty metres. The females take good care of their young ones, until they are absolutely ready to face the world themselves. The males protect their mates, and are willing to give their lives doing so. Truly, dragons are a supreme species."

"Yeah, you're right. And they're pretty fucking impossible to defeat, trust me, Cloud ran into a great deal of 'em and most of the times it ended up with six of us lying unconscious on the ground, and the rest spamming Life for the sake of Shiva's mercy, and then we ran for our lives, and then Cloud said 'stuff like this happens' and shrugged, and Cid swore and Barret hit him in the head and I told him that he was a lousy leader. But you're absolutely right. My fave animal has gotta be cats. They're cuddly, they're cute, they're furry. Well then, your favourite flower?"

She considered her answer carefully, it seemed. I almost started to wonder if she had ever seen flowers in real life, I mean, nothing grows in Junon, not even weed, and her family didn't exactly feel like the let's-go-on-a-picnic-in-the-green-nature-kinda family. At all. But surely, she must have seen flowers? Who hadn't? People like Allie. People with parents like hers.

"The wild rose."

"Huh?" I said. Her answer came so suddenly after her silence, and I had been so deep into my own thoughts that it startled me.

"My favourite flower. The wild rose. It grows in places where not many can see it, but those who do are stunned by its flawless beauty. It symbolises freedom, because of its endurance and rarity, as well as its ability to survive even the harshest winters and devastating storms. It is a stong defender, protecting itself with sharp thorns, slyly hidden under its leaves. It is beauty, freedom and the strength of a warrior combined. You could say...it is the dragon of the plants."

She smiled her innocent, nervous little smile. I smiled back at her, nodding.

"Yeah, I guess it is. I've never seen a wild rose, just ordinary ones. But they sure are pretty. My favourite flower is...oh damn, this was a tough one. Let me think. I'd like to say 'rose', seeing as I am The White Rose of Wutai, but since you already said it...I guess I'll have to choose the Wutai mountaindawn-flower instead. As the name implies, it grown in the mountains of Wutai, and it blooms in dawn, its colours shifting like a rainbow, just paler and smoother, they are really beautiful. I used to get up early when I was out camping in the mountains, just to see them in all their glory. I'll have to show them to you someday, and you'll have to show me a wild rose! Deal?"

She nodded solemnly. "Deal."

"'Cuse me, ladies, could I have a Sparkling Meteorfall?"

"Drinks this early? Nah, just kidding. 'Course you can, just wait a minute."

I prepared the drink for the man, gave it to him, took the pay and then turned back to Alyera.

"Okay, I can't come up with any more questions right now, and our friendship is in a far too early stage for the 'tell me something about yourself that I didn't know slash you haven't told anyone else' kinda questions. Hey, I said yesterday that I'd tell you the legend of Leviathan, didn't I? Wanna hear it?" She nodded again. "Great! I love it, it's awesome. Now, let's see here. Okay. It all began a long time ago, when this planet was new, and the first generations of humans lived here. Wutai wasn't a separate continent back then, but instead it was linked to the other contintents by broad isthmuses. It was still the country hallowed to water, though, and two gods were fighting over it; Leviathan, the Great Serpent of the Seas, and Bismarck, the Iron Whale. The two gods were equal in strength, and all their battles didn't lead them anywhere. One day, they were locked in combat. Leviathan had wrapped himself around Bismarck, threatening to crush him, and Bismarck had caught Leviathan's tail in his mouth, on his way to swallowing the viper. None of them could win, so they decided to let the people decide. First, Bismarck spoke: "I will give you the strength of the warrior, to that you may defeat and conquer the whole world! You will be the absolute leaders, the highest race, dominating over the rest of the humans!" The people considered this; it sounded good to be the supreme ones. But then, Leviathan said: "People of Wutai, do you really seek war and death so much? I offer you my protection, my waters shall rise and separate this land from the rest of the world, so that you may live in peace here, troubled not by the quarrelling of the outerworld." The people considered this too, and after having thought for a long while, a young woman came forth, and spoke with a strong voice as clear as the water of the mountain brooks. "Why would we want to fight? Truly, even if we gained divine might, our people would get killed. Why would we wish something like that upon us? No, we would rather want to live in peace, shielded from the rest of the world. Here, we can undisturbed build a mighty empire, mighty not by the size of the land we own, but by a great country of democracy and freedom, where our children can grow up happy!" And the other people agreed with her. Bismarck and his love for war was banished, and Leviathan drenched the isthmuses with his water, and Wutai was sealed from the outerworld, and has been ever since. Unfortunately, with time human invented ships that could endure even voyages that long, and later on came helicopters and airships, too. And with them came war...and not even Leviathan's blessing could save us then. Well, that's basically it. Oh, wait! That girl, she became the first Empress of Wutai, and she was named Rebaiasan no Saki, Leviathan's First. The Kisaragi family is of her lineage. But is was a long time ago since it was a woman who ruled Wutai. The last twenty or so leaders seem to have been corrupted old men...and yes, although it embarrasses me to say it, they are my ancestors. Yeesh. Well, I'mma be the first Empress since I dunno, decades, and I'm gonna be so totally awesome and Wutai's gonna be so totally awesome because of me. Yep. Okay, whaddaya think? Great story, eh?"

"Yes, it is. I like it, especially how that girl chooses isolation and peace in front of power and warring. She was wise. And I like myths and history, too."

"Hey, what do you mean, 'myths'? This is a legend, a true one! It's about how my country was created!"

"Oh, I-I'm so sorry, Yuffie. W-what I m-meant was..."

"Eh, no big deal. I really don't believe in it either, but then again, who knows? It's not like Leviathan is gonna pop up and tell us whether it's the truth or not. It up to each person to believe it or not. Personally, I don't know. It could be true, I could be just a story. We will never know." I shrugged. "But even if it's just a myth, I like the though of Leviathan having something to do with the creation of Wutai. After all, we are his people, and he is our god. In that I believe. Even now, when I have fled my country, my faith in the great serpent remains as strong as ever. How about you? Do you believe in any god?"

Alyera thought for a while, her eyebrows knitted together and her mako eyes reflecting a troubled look. It seemed that she was going to be careful with what she said this time, maybe she was afraid of offending me. It would be just like her. Heck, listen to me! 'It would be just like her', I say, like I've known her for ages. In one way I have, but our friendship as kids didn't last long, and we hadn't even remembered each other. But Allie was easy to read. She was like an open book, a dramatic piece, a tragedy I hoped would turn into a normal everyday-life-story with a happy ending. She worried too much, she was too concerned of what other people thought of her, she didn't have a strong enough own opinion...she thought too much. Thinking isn't good for you, no matter what the wise guys say. When you think too much, you become a moping, brooding emo like Chocoass, Vinnie or Allie. Because yeah, she was rather emo. The shyest emo I've ever seen, but still an emo. I really needed to change that, I was so sick of gloomy emo kids I could throw up. Having Vincent around was more than enough already, and I sure as hell didn't want a new depression queen (yes, both Vince and Cloudy were depression queens) whom I would have to cheer up five times a day because she thought the world sucked and was againt her and whatnot. I would have to work hard this first time, to keep her away from the Flaming Pit Of Eternal Anguish And Despair Where Brooding Emos Burn For Ever And Ever before she fell down there completely. It had taken Mouldy and Chocobutt many years just to get as far as they were now – and I knew that with my sometimes failing patience I wouldn't wanna wait half a decade for Alyera to get there too. Because 'there' in their case was what normal people usually called a state of social retardness and lack of any noticable emotions. I didn't want yet another zombie friend. I'd had enough of zombies, vampires, Sephiroth, Sephiroth avatars, Sephiroth wannabes and the rest of the shit that had come in my way these last four years. I wanted a normal friend. Sadly, I would have to work for that. But at least it wouldn't be as hard as it had been with Vince.

"Hey, I won't get offended or anything, just so you know."

"Okay. No...no, I do not believe in any god. I believe that mankind is strong enough to shape their own destiny, without any divine intervention. I believe in that strength comes from the heart, not from deities we can't see or converse with. If you feel that your strength alone is not enough, then rely on your friends to support you. That is what friends are for, are they not?"

"Um, yeah, I guess that sound reasonable. Well, I'm not gonna call you an infidel and burn you alive or something just because you don't believe in the same thing as I do. But...I do _too_ believe in strength from friends. I mean, alone none of us would have had any chance in hell of defeating Sephiroth. We had to encourage each other, all the time, and I know I needed it, because – even if it's embarrassing to admit it – sometimes I was so scared I almost started crying. I was scared of death, I was scared of never seeing my homeland again, I was scared of the mere thought that any of the others could die. After Aerith had died, I cried every night for two weeks, but I never showed it to anyone. If they had seen that I, who never showed weakness, cried, then that would've totally broken their spirits. So yeah...strength in your comrades, and trust in them, that I believe in too. Alone isn't strong, not at all. And after all, shared joy is double joy, shared sorrow is half sorrow, right?"

"Right."

"So, I told you a story, do you know any stories that you can tell me in return?"

"Oh...no, I am sorry, but I do not think so."

"Aw come on, you've gotta know some story, like from books or whatever!"

"I was not allowed to read books, other than in educational purposes. Father said it might give me absurde ideas of how life was outside of the house."

"Come on _seriously_? Damn, I'm gonna kill that man if I ever meet him! Fucking hell, what a mother-"

I silenced, noticing how loud I was. I didn't want to scare off the customers. I took a deep breath, clenching my hands into fists.

"Okay", I said, quieter, "I'll teach you some stories that you can tell others, because it's always nice to know some. Good entertaining in these kinda situations. Makes you avoid sitting in awkward silence. Buuut I can't come up with any right now. So it'll have to wait. Yeah well, it's about rush time anyway, in a minute this place will be packed with thirsty and hungry customers and then we'll be busy."

My premonition turned out to be right; this was the time of the day when late workers ate lunch, and early workers finished and wanted an after-work beer. Both me and Allie got our hands full, mixing drinks and pouring up the strong alcohol beverages from North Corel, as well as taking orders for the simple dishes we had on the menu and passing them on to Tifa, who was standing prepared in the kitchen. Then it was our job to make sure the customers got their food, because they were hungry and not very patient at all. One things Teef had taught us was that customers who got their orders fast were customers who gave tip. The money streamed into the cash register, and it was not hard to understand how Tifa could pay us five thousand gil each every month and still have lots left. This place had really become popular since the second Jenova War. And 'popular' meant stressful for us. We ran around like maniacs all over the place, trying to be as quick as possible and yet retaining at least some of our dignity. That was a hard task, and I don't know how well we succeeded. After an hour or so, the frequency by which orders came started to slow down, and we could finally breathe out. I knew though, that it was gonna be like this again every day, only worse and for a longer time until we reached Friday, when the rush of thirsty people would start at four and not end until the bar closed at two in the morning. Saturday was gonna be the same, and we wouldn't get a peaceful moment until Sunday evening. But that was in the future; what mattered now was that we had to get all the dirty glasses and plates washed until the next rush would come when the late workers finished. Teefs did have a dishwasher, but it wasn't big enough for all the dish, especially not since there were lots of grimy pans and other stuff that Tifa had used when cooking. Since she was tired after doing so and needed to rest, it was either me or Alyera who would have to do it. We decided that she would wash the dishes, and I would take care of the bar, a decision that felt very wise considering her phobia for human beings and my, uh, let us call it not so very excelling skill of dishwashing. I have a tendency of getting utterly bored, trail off and start daydreaming, which leads to me dropping things.

Not very much happened during the time between the rush hours, and when the next one started we were well prepared and had stocked up a copious amount of glasses, ready too meet the attack. And it did indeed come. It was just like the last one in intensity, the only difference was that people only wanted to pour as much alcohol as possible down their throats this time, instead of combining that with eating. These tired workers wanted a refreshening beer before going home to dinner, and they bought only one each, mostly. But that didn't bother us the slightest. They were so many that we hardly could keep up with their orders anyway. I glanced at Allie evry now and then, fearing that she would collapse from the stress and the exposure to so much people, but she seemed to handle it almost better than I did. She was businesslike, like a robot she took the orders, poured the glasses, and delivered them, like she had never done anything else before in her life. Maybe she had a switch that she could turn on, that made her close all her feeling out, thus being able to cope? Probably. I envied her a little, but mostly I was just happy that she managed so well.

Eventually, it got calmer. Alyera looked really tired, so Teefs told her to go to bed. She then joined me behind the bar counter.

"Hey, Tifa..." I said.

"Yes?"

"Well...um, I thought that, since Allie's still so nervous around us, maybe we oughta do something all of us together, y'know? I mean, us three, the emos and the kiddos?"

"Hmm...I'm sure that Denny and Marly would love that, I'm not too sure about Vincent and Cloud though...but we could always ask them. Or convince them, the old-fashioned way." She winked at me, and held up her fist. I grinned.

"Yeah, you take care of Emo King and I'll do the same with Emo Lord. But, first of all, what are we gonna do?"

"Hey Yuffs, how about a trip to the beach? I mean, the weather can't possible be better, but it won't last for long, so better take the chance while we still can, right?"

"Yeah! Awesome, Teef! But wait, Allie doesn't have a bikini...more shopping? I have the one I made Vince buy for me in Costa del Sol."

"I think she can borrow one of mine. I have more than plenty."

"Great! Thanks a lot, Tifa! So, when, then?"

"This weekend? I haven't had a day off for ages, neither has Cloud."

"Sounds good. Where are we going?"

"The beach near Kalm, it's lovely. We've been there a couple of times, it's like this continent's Costa del Sol, only less tourists and bodybuilding muscleheads."

"Perfect! I'm sure Allie will like it, and I mean, she doesn't have to bathe if she doesn't want to. Just being at the beach is fun enough. So, how long will we be there? The whole day? What should we bring?"

Me and Tifa spent the rest of the bar's open hours discussing and planning. When we had closed, and I was helping her cleaning the tables, I smiled inside. This was gonna be fun. I could hardly wait until the next morning, when I could tell Alyera, I was so excited. Now I'd have something to look forwards too for the rest of the week, too.

Tifa went past me to lock the doors.

"Yuffie, could you ask Vincent what he thinks? I'm pretty sure of that he hasn't gone to bed yet. The sooner we tell him, the lesser the shock for him."

"Okay", I said and nodded. She was right, when it was about something like this, we were better off warning Vince in good time. I headed for the stairs, walking through the empty bar and the just as empty kitchen, then up the staircase, past my room, past the bathroom, and reached Vincent's door. It was open, but only just a little. _Great_, I thought, _this means he's not sleeping._

Now, normal people knock, even if the door's slightly open. Normal people know that they might find something extremely embarrassing if they just walk in. Well, I knew this too. But that didn't mean I knocked. I didn't just walk in, either, though. Thank Leviathan for that. Well then, what did I do?

Being the smartass ninja I am, I came to the conclusion that looking in was the best option. Now, most people wouldn't. But I'm not 'most people'. I'm Yuffie Kisaragi, the greatest ninja ever to exist. Somewhere, my brain decided that if Vince was doing something he wanted to keep a secret (no, brain, don't think of what that would be, I said _don't fucking go there_), then the door wouldn't be open. That he had just forgotten to close it? That thought never crossed my mind. So I peeked into his room. And nearly got a heart attack.

Illuminated by the moon and street lights shining in through the windows, Vince was fully visible even though he didn't have any lamps switched on. I could see him clearly, and what I saw was, well... Vince changing. Or rather, Vince in just boxers. I had already seen him with bare torso in Costa del Sol, but this was different. Because he was as close to nude as he possible could get without actually being it. Oh, sweet Leviathan, that sight made me blush more than Alyera when I was talking underwear. My heart raced, I was completely frozen. If I moved, he could hear me, which he obviously hadn't done already, regardless of his super hearing skills (I came to the conclusion that he was too deep into though to notice anything at all). And if I moved...well, then I wouldn't be able to look at super handsome sexy piece of ass almost nude Vincent fucking Valentine. So yeah, I admitted it. I think he's hot, but he is. Thinking that someone is sexy and being in love with them are two entirely different things, and glancing ever so innocently at your good-looking friends isn't a crime. It was just that, I was rather ogling. And not so very innocently, either. More like, staring my eyes out, my gaze sweeping over his body and oh, yummy, muscles.

Then, when I heard Tifa check the windows downstairs, I snapped backto reality, out of the wonderful, almost naked dream before me. I used my incredible ninja skills to quickly and quietly as hell get away from the door and head back down the stairs, trying to force my face to go back to its normal colour. When I got into the kitchen, I was stretching and yawning, rubbing my eyes to make it look like that was the reason I was beet red.

"Sorry Teefs, I think he's already gone to sleep", I said, doing my best to look extraordinary tired and therefore red. "But I'll ask him tomorrow instead. He's still got a few days go get used to the thought."

"Oh, okay", she said and nodded, looking at me with a rather amused facial expression. "You look really tired, Yuffs. Go to bed, now."

"Mmm", I answered, praising Leviathan that she hadn't noticed anything. Then I went upstairs again, being a little louder than normal, just to inform Vincent of that his door was open in the most discrete way I could think of. When safe inside my own room, I carefully closed the door before changing into that darn lovely-smelling t-shirt. When I went to the bathroom to brush my teeth, I again made sure that I was yawning loudly all the way. On the way back afterwards, I almost stepped into Vince who was standing just outside the door. I immediately felt how my face got heated, I concentrated on his eyes and smiled as innocently as I could manage.

"Hello, Vince! And good night!"

Then went back into my room as quickly as possible without making it look suspect, closed and locked the door, feeling utterly paranoid, and getting into bed. Then I lay there, with the duvets up to my ears, still with heavily beating heart and warm cheeks, unable to get the picture of Vince in the moonlight out of my head. This was going to be a long night.

_**So yeah...embarrassment! Gotta love it! But come on, all you fangirls out there, don't deny it – you all wanna see almost-nude Vincent too. We all do. But Yuffie's the one who gets to actually do it, not fair :( Ah, whatever. And I totally love how Tifa doesn't even comment it when Yuffie calls Cloud and Vincent 'the emos' xD Mind you, I have nothing against emos. I'm actually kinda emo myself. As a side point: Yes, I do have a plot. Just to letcha know. I never write anything if I don't have a ready plot, but then I might add stuff to it when writing. Also, the Leviathan legend is MINE. Don't stealz. I made it up, yay for my imagination! Also, I'm not saying that Japanese was perfect. Don't flame me. My dictionary is a confusing bitch, plus it's English to Japanese which means that I have to translate everything into English first. And oh, the wild rose. Yup, for all of ya who's played FFII or Dissidia, I'm blabbering about Firion's wild rose. FIRION! I LOVE FIRON! Ahyiiiik ahyiiiik - choking from fangirl session at god of sexyness Firion OMGZ FIRION! IIIIIIIIIIII! Hhzeeeeee - doing the exact same thing again. Stupid idiot, Shade. Anyway. Review and make my day, I'm in a depressed mood right now.**_

_**Love,**_

_**Shade Lamora**_


	9. Chapter 8: Relaxation, or so I thought

_**Umm, hiya guys...So like, I'm late, I know, but summer's the time when I live with dad a lot, and he **_**still**_** hasn't fixed the Internet, so yeah...I got access to the Internet a week ago, and i know this isn't much for a week of writing, but I suspect that I'm rusty, because it was really hard :( Anyway, I figured that this was better than nothing, so do please enjoy. Also, I **_**will**_** be better at responding to the reviews I get, they really mean a lot to me! Thanks, all of you who have reviwed this story so far! I love you all!**_

_**DISCLAIMER: I don't own FFVII, just my plot and my OC. Geez.**_

**Chapter 8:**_ Relaxation...or so I thought_

Saturday morning, we packed ourselves into Tifa's car. It was a big car, but we were seven people and our bags, so it was pretty tight. I got squeezed in between Vincent (yes, Vincent. He was coming with us to the beach. It's true. Someone call the news or something) and Alyera, who looked both excited and scared to death. Couldn't blame her, really. Poor little thing hadn't done anything in her life except being mistreated by her father, so it was quite natural for her to be scared of everything. But it was still annoying sometimes.

The day after my incident with almost-naked-Vincent-in-moonlight-and-horrible-dirty-dreams-following-afterwards, Tifa had been kind enough to ask him during the breakfast. He uttered a 'Hn.' and left. We took it as a 'Yes, I'd love too, I find the beach quite charming and I sooo need to get myself a proper tan before summer is over' or something more or less equal to that, and we were right. Alyera shone like a sun, or rather moon, with her pale complexion, for a couple of seconds, and then went back to her normal, nervous and wondering look.

"The...beach?"

"Allie, please. Don't say that you've never been to a beach."

She looked anxiously at me.

"You lived in Junon. It's by the sea."

"Junon does not have any beaches, only the port."

"I know that, I've been in Junon several times, remember? But there are beaches close to Junon."

"I...I have never left Junon before I came here..."

"Oh for fuck's sake! I'll kill that man, I really will. Never left your homwtown? Geez. Gimme a break."

"Oh, but I do know what a beach _is_, Yuffie. I have seen pictures. It looks very nice."

"Yeah, you bet it is. An' you're gonna enjoy it, 'cause I'm telling you to."

She nodded, like a child in school who's just recieved orders from the teacher to do the homework. Needless to say, Denny and Marly were absolutely euphoric when they had heard about the planned trip.

So therefore we all squeezed into Tifa's car at Saturday morning. Teefs driving, Cloud in the seat next to her, the kids in the row behind them, and for some reason me, Vince and Alyera in the back. I never understood why any of us didn't sit with the brats, because then we would have had so much more space. Well, I guess that I just didn't want to, because the dwarves were too happy and too loud and too...mobile. Vincent probably had the same reason. Alyera was still quite scared of them, even though she made an admirable effort in trying not to show it. Though she didn't succeed. Denny and Marly loved her more and more every day, and the more they loved her, the more they scared her, and the more they loved her. It was actually rather funny to watch, since this kind of evil spiral didn't really harm anyone. They wanted to hug her goodnight, she saw it as an assassination attempt and tried to flee. I laughed my butt off, Tifa giggled, Cloud smirked and Vincent looked slightly less emo. Shelke still hadn't come home, so Tifa left her a note on the desk ('She has her own keys', she said) telling her where we were and that we'd be home not too late. I kinda feared the first meeting between Shelke and Allie. Two very different and yet very similar personalities, Shelke curious at everything after having spent ten year in DeepGround, Alyera scared of everything after having spent her whole life locked up in her own home. But I was going to make sure to be there when they met, and ensure a safe bonding. When they became friends, they would have lots to talk about, I knew that. Until then...I decided just not to think about it. I'd just make me worry about Allie even more.

I had my bikini that I made Vinnie buy for me in Costa del Sol, and Allie had borrowed one of Teef's. It was 'too small across the chest' for her, but it fit Alyera perfectly. It was black though; I didn't like it because I wanted her to wear more colourful clothes. Black felt so depressing on her, and I feared that it'd remind her of her past. I didn't want that. It would be for her like for Vincent; those clothes, those colours, would hang around her shoulders and weighing her down. I had worked on Vincent for fours years, and it was just a year ago since he at least partly forgave himself, and that little depressed part of me that had been growing the last time whispered that Alyera might take a very long time too. But I repressed it by telling myself that at least Allie smiled, while Vincent had never done that out of happiness, just shown ghost of a smile when being mean to me. But... I remembered that time in Aerith's church. When Cloud returned from the dead, and the healing water cured Denzel's Geostigma, and everyone was so happy and we all smiled and laughed, I glanced behind my shoulder at Vince, and he smiled too. It was beautiful, and so touching to see him do that. Now he actually lived in Edge, among other people, instead of hiding in caves and forests and stuff, so that indicated on a change for him, a change to the better. Sitting in the car, which was more like a minivan, squeezed in between them, I felt it again, stronger now, that this had to be my task, and my task alone. Vincent had helped me so many times, in battles, he had been there for me during my grand escape from Wutai, heck, he had even told me that I had grown more mature and starting to become an adult for real. If he was right about that, I would repay him by playing the supportive motherly and sisterly role that had always been Tifa's, and help to lift both him and my new best friend out of the darkness of their shadowy past. I smiled to myself where I sat, lost in thoughts of my heroic decision to do everything in my power to help my friends. The White Rose of Wutai was back. I could feel her growing inside me, bigger every second. If I succeeded, she would burst into a flower, a beautiful rose, and then I would be that wild rose that Alyera spoke of. When I was that far into my own story of the brave young ninja warrior Yuffie Kisaragi, who sacrificed everything she had for her friends and fought dragons and walked on water for them, Allie woke me up.

"Yuffie? How far is it to the beach?"

"Eh? Who? What? Why? What? The beach? What? Ooh, _that_ beach. Yeah well, it's near Kalm but by the sea, so I'd say maybe two hours if Teefs drive like a madwoman as she usually does. No, just kidding ya. Two hours or something like that. And it took me and Vince like, most of the frickin' day to walk from Kalm to here... Vinnie, why don't you have a car? Or a bike, like Fenrir? Do you realise how convenient that would be?"

"Hn."

"Two hours? Oh, my!"

"It's chill, Allie. We can torment Vincent during the trip and it'll be fun."

Vince death-glared me. I happyfaced him back.

"I'm immune to that, Vinnie-love" I sang and grinned at his expression. "See, Allie? It's really easy, too! And just sooo much fun."

-TWR&TH-

We all arrived to the beach alive and well, even though Vincent looked like he regretted coming with us. The kids got whinier and whinier, I got more and more restless, and in one way or the other it all went out on him. I decided that poking him in the face and say 'poke' everytime I did so was the best way to amuse myself, and the pygmies got louder with every minute. Poor Vinnie, now that I think of him. He had too much stubborn pride to tell me to stop in a way that made me take him seriously. The stupid old vampire never learns. Pride is good, yeah, but not when he's near _me_. The guy needs to be able to let loose and scream and go berserk sometimes. Then again, Vincent is scary when he's mad, no shit, so it's probably better this way.

The mini-people and I raced each other from the parking lot towards the golden sand. I had been smart enough to put on my bikini under my clothes before we left, so I just threw off my top and shorts, left them on the ground for somebody else to take care of, and ran into the water with a splash. Oh, it was wonderful! Just the perfect temperature, crystal clear near the beach and bluish green further out. Marlene and Denzel joined me, immediately starting a water war. I participated with joy, and by the time Tifa, Cloud and Alyera wet their toes we were all soaked, even though the water only reached halfway up my thighs. Teefs laughed and splashed some water on Cloud, who fled further out and dove below the surface. Alyera now had water to her knees, and anxiously looked at us.

"Come on, Allie!" I shouted at her. When she still didn't move, I went to her, grabbed her hand and dragged her with me. Then I pushed her into the water, laughing at her facial expression. When she came up, her long hair (for convenience gathered in a thick braid which reached well past her waist) looked more like a waterfall, and she spluttered and coughed. I almost expected her to be angry with me, but to my big, happy surprise she started laughing too. Then she counterattacked and gave me the same treatment. Me, being trained to fight, tried to block her attack, but was surprised again when she easily overpowered me and sent me flying into the water. She really was strong! When I got up, she was smiling shyly at me.

"I am sorry. I do not realise my own strength."

"Hey, it's okay, Allie. That was great fun!"

She smiled again, and then turned to the kiddos who had come and now wanted us to join them in playing tag in the water. I felt happy. Allie smiled, and she had laughed too. This was a good sign.

I played tag for probably half an hour, before deciding to join vamps on land. I found him in the shade of a tree, wearing a black t-shirt indentical to the one I used for nightgown. But even though it was almost thirty degrees (not in the shade, of course, but it was still warm) he still wore his leather pants. I sat down next to him, leaning against the trunk just like he did. He glanced at me.

"Coming to poke me?" he deadpanned. I giggled.

"No. I just didn't feel like swimming anymore. I thought I'd join you up here and try to make you smile."

"Why?" he asked and looked at me.

"Because you never do. It's depressing. You just sit here all by yourself, watching us have fun, looking broody and gloomy. It's not right. I wanna see you smile, because if we're happy, you oughta be too."

I looked back at him. He was still watching me with that gaze that made me feel like he was reading me like a book, or using his invisible radar to scan me. It didn't scare me this time though, like it usually did, since I had nothing to hide. For once. I met his eyes, and experienced a strange feeling. It was like an elctrical current had been connected to my heart, and the electricity spread through my body and generated heat. I felt like I could drown in those crimson pools, and I didn't want to look away. I realised that I was being very close to him, our faces merely two decimetres apart, but it didn't affect me. I didn't break the contact, but steadily and calmly watched him in return.

"Does it matter that much to you?" he asked.

"Yes, it does."

"Why?"

"Because you're my...sorry to say it Vince, but second-best friend, my comrade-in-arms since many years, and you deserve some joy. Okay? I just wanna se you smile like every other person I know do. Even Allie, and she's had it rough." I still didn't break the eye contact.

"I would like to see you try."

"You will. I will have you smile one day, Vincent, but my main focus at the moment is Allie. I'm sorry. You're not number one anymore", I said teasingly.

"Who said I wanted to?"

"Who doesn't want to be someone's number one?"

"It's not necessary for me."

"I don't care about you and your emoness, Vince. I don't give a damn whether you want to be any number at all, you still are. Number two. I'll make you smile."

"Hn."

"Is that really allyou have to say? You're so hopeless, Vinnie", I sighed, looked away and leaned against him with my head on his shoulder. "I'm tired, Vince. You'll make a good pillow."

"Hn."

-TWR&TH-

When I woke up I joined Allie and the kids in the water. Tifa and Cloud had decided they had got enough of the sea and were lying on towels on the beach, where every male person oh-so-happily could stare at Teef's boobs. Alyera told me that she didn't know how to swim, and I felt stupid for not thinking of that before. Of course she couldn't, she had never had a chance to practise! I told her the basics, and then helped her. She was an studious pupil, and after a couple of hours she swam almost as well as anybody else. She swam for thirty metres, stopped, and swam again. She tried really hard, and it was easy to understand that she wanted to be able to swim like normal people. When we eventually got tired, long after when Denny and Marly found some other kids to play with and left us, we went for a walk along the beach. Alyera kept giving me strange looks, and after a while I got tired of it.

"Allie, what is is? You're looking at me so strangely."

"Oh, I am sorry, Yuffie. Are you and Vincent...are you..." I understood what she was trying to ask.

"Oh no, no, no, we're just friends, okay? We've been friends for so long, it's nothing strange when I use him as a pillow. It's not like this is the first time, either. He's everything for me; pillow, punching bag, bullying victim, hanky...and also my favourite emo. Up 'til I met you, he was my best friend. The differences between us never mattered, you know? He's...41 years older than me, fifty-six times as serious, one hundred and seven times as brooding, and eight squadrillions nine thousand two hundred and three times as emo, but we still get along great, in our own way. We're the most odd couple ever, but it works out just awesomely. We kick major butt in fights, and if Cloud wanted trusty party members when he suspected we would have to fight aerial or very nimble enemies, we were always his natural choice. Vincent never misses, did you know that? I have never seen him miss a single shot, no matter what he fights. I miss sometimes, I admit that, but it's very very very rare that I do. We're like...ketchup and mustard, pepper and salt, night and day, so very different but at the same time, what would we be without each other? I think that's the best way I can describe our relationship."

"Oh, okay. I understand. That was a very clever metaphor, Yuffie."

"You really think so?"

"Why, absolutely!"

"Gee, thanks a lot! Hah, I needa tell Vinnie that he's not the only intelligent person in the gang anymore! Ooh, that'll own him big time. Thanks, Allie!"

We went along the shore talking for more than an hour, reflecting on things we saw, gossiping about Cloud and Tifa, predicting Cloud's proposal to her, and so on. When we got back to the others, Tifa waved at us and told us it was time to go back to Edge. Still merry, we jumped into the car and drove off. After ten or so minutes, I got bored and started asking Cloud when he actually _was_ going to propose to Tifa. He was the one driving, and it was fun seeing him trying to contain himself while Tifa blushed and tried to change the subject. I am sure of that all the other passengers enjoyed our discussion immensely, even Vincent. I can tell when he's listening and when he's not, and if he's listening it means he's enjoying it. Ain't harder than that. We all sat at the same seats as when we had gone in the opposite direction, except Cloud and Teefs who had changed with each other, and now I felt myself lean slightly towards Alyera. There was some kinda tension between me and Vince, and I didn't know why or who had started it. I suspected it was me, or rather, Allie, with her comment on how it looked like me and Vinnie were together. In the car, when teasing Cloud eventually started to bore me, and I had time to think about it, I remembered that electrical current I had felt running through my body when he looked at me like that. What if? What if I actually had more feelings for him than I had realised myself? No, that couldn't be it. No way. I had known Vincent for too long. He was a very good friend, from there came my strong feelings for him, and he was a damn good-looking fellow, from there came my reactions when being so close to him. It wasn't love, not even a crush. Never.

Or maybe it was.

No, it was _not_.

Was I really sure about that?

Yes! I was_ not_ in love with Vincent, I had never been and I would never be. Drop the subject, Yuffie. Drop it.

I had made myself annoyed, and I sat silent during the rest of the drive. When we _finally _parked outside of Seventh Heaven I could barely stand myself anymore, and hurried off with the excuse that my bath towel was wet and needed hanging up. I earned some strange glances; it was a very poor lie, but I had to say something. I went into my room, hung the towel over a chair and then sat down on the floor. Why did I feel so confused about my own feelings now? Wasn't this a thing people went through during their teens? I was gonna be 21, and I felt completely emotionally lost. I decided to take a shower, hoping to wash my troubled away.

"I'm going to take a shower, I'm all covered in salt!" I shouted and entered the bathroom, locking the door behind me.

The hot water helped some, and my own awesome ability of thinking positive helped the rest. I'm so awesome! I felt the awesomeness grow inside me as I stepped out of the bathroom which I had been occupying for over an hour. As I reached the door to my room, I could hear the phone ring and Tifa answer. I got dressed and was thinking of what to do next, when Teefs called my name.

"Yuffie! It's...for you."

There was something strange in her voice, and full of bad premonitions I went down the stairs to the kitchen, where I took the phone from her.

"Hello?"

"Yuffie, it's your father. I demand you return to Wutai _now_."

_**Ooh, cliffhanger! I am so very evil. Anyway, hopefully I'll be able to write something worth reading soon, until then, review and**_

_**Love,**_

_**Shade Lamora**_


	10. Chapter 9: Yuffie, back in action

_**Hai guys! I know I'm so late it's silly, but you know what? School! High school! It's so much tougher than ninth grade, I get home several hours later than before and I'm constantly fatigued Anyway, good news? YES! My English teacher let me write fanfics in class because I'm *blushing* too erm good for erm normal English so yeahhh… ^^ Well, this took me forever to write, I hope you like it! I'm leaving you with another cliffhanger (kinda) though, because I am evil. Also, really creepy guy coming up in this chappie! Enjoy :D**_

_Chapter 9: Yuffie, back in action_

I gasped for air. No. Not this, not now, no. I couldn't return to Wutai. Someday, yes, but not now._ No._ Impossible. I had a mission here in Edge, and I was not going to abandon Allie. Or Vincent, for that matter.

"Dad, I can't leave Edge. I won't come back."

"You will. Or I shall take on drastic methods."

"Oh yeah? What you got, old man?"

"I shall make sure to find another heir to the throne, should you not return, daughter."

I got quiet. He'd give my place as the ruler of Wutai to someone else? He couldn't do that! Well, yes he could, but… I hated him so much right then. A flood of emotions threatened to overwhelm me, and I balled my free hand into a fist, shaking with anger.

"Dad…you have no right to take my role as the heir to the throne of Wutai and give it to someone else. If you do that, I will return and take it back. If I so have to kill the thief. I'm not a child anymore dad, you can't tell me what to do and what to don't. I have an important mission in Edge, I have a friend who needs me to be here by her side. You had no problem with your sixteen-year-old daughter travelling the world fighting monsters to search for materia even though it meant the Princess of Wutai was stealing like any filthy robber taken directly from the streets of Midgar, but now, when I'm grown up and legally allowed to make my own decisions, you won't let me go away to see my friends? They need me! Just like the Planet needed us all four years ago! I'm not a child anymore, even if you can't see that. I know you want me to get married for the sake of my country, but only adults marry, right? Then please, let me marry for love. You know me. I'm a free spirit, as wild as the crumbling Da Chao, and forcing me into a marriage with someone I don't even know or like would end in a disaster. You know it would. I'd either kill him or myself. Do you want your only child to be unhappy? How many times haven't I heard I'm the spitting image of my mother, just not as beautiful and with shorter hair…do you want the last remaining part of your wife on this earth go away? Do you want me to _die_? Dad, we haven't agreed on many points during my lifetime, but I hope that will change and that the day when I walk down the aisle of my own free will, you'll be there escorting me smiling. There are good men apart from the suitors you've found for me, dad, and I need to find one of those myself, one that I can love and be happy with. If I'm unhappily married, if _I'm_ unhappy, what would happen to Wutai then? How can a depressed empress restore Wutai to the glory we both want to see? Dad, otoo-san, when I'm ready to marry and take over your place to rule our country, then I will return. Until then, there are things I have to do, people I have to help, and a life that needs to be outlived. When I return, when I ascend the throne, I will do it without fear and without doubt. I'll make Wutai become what we want it too, I'll make you proud. So please, otoo-san, wait for me until I'm ready. Okay?"

My old man was silent for a while. I didn't interfere, I was breathing heavily after this discharge of thoughts and feelings. I could almost hear dad compute what I had just said, and then:

"Yuffie. This shows that you have already grown. But, I will not deny that a happy ruler makes a happy country. I will give you a year. After that, you will return to Wutai or let someone else take your place as my successor. No matter what the outcome, either of you will need to receive the proper education before being able to take over the throne after me. One year, that ought to be enough for you to mature and help your friends. I know that you are not a child anymore, but I am still your father as well as your emperor, and I will neither tolerate nor accept disobedience from you. Can we reach a mutual agreement?"

"Yes," I quickly answered, freeing that he'd draw back his uncharacteristically generous proposition. "In one year I will return to Wutai and take up ruling education. And I will do so without complaining, as long as you in turn let me marry of love."

Godo grunted. "Fine. But I won't accept just anybody. You will bring him before me and then I'll deem him worthy or not. If he's a good enough man, then yes, you may marry of love."

"Arigato, otoo-san."

"Gambatte."

With that, we hung up. I stood by the phone, shaking. When I looked up, I realised that Teefs , Allie and Vincent all were looking at me. Vinnie's gaze was piercing, and like so often before, it felt like he could see straight into my soul and read my thoughts.

"What did you decide upon?" he asked. "Surely, it must be something good; otherwise you would not have thanked him."

I nodded. "I'll have one year in Edge. During this time period, I'll do my best to help Allie," I smiled at her, "and work in the bar. After a year, I'll return to Wutai, and get some education or whatever in order to be able to take the throne after my old man. Questions?"

They all seemed fine with this, Alyera smiled shyly towards me, Teefs made her most happy and mother-like face and Vince…well, he was still looking at me with that intense gaze.

"Vince, what is it?" I asked. "You look like you wanna devour my soul, rip the flesh from my bones and drink my blood, vamps," I said dramatically, eyes wide open as if in great terror.

He grunted and hid his face in his collar. Stupid collar! Stupid cloak! It had always been that cloak, weighing him down, and I was _so_ tired of it!

"Stop hiding for _fuck's sake"_ I screamed, making Allie and Teefs stare at me with surprised looks. I couldn't take it, I was already fired up from my nice little chat to dad, and Vincent's fucked up behaviour had been annoying me for four years now. No more hiding, no more shying away, no more… "Vincent! _Vincent!_ Act like a man and stop hiding from reality!"

I snapped. I charged at him blazing with fury, his eyes widened but this time I didn't reflect over how beautiful they were, instead I grabbed his cloak and undid the buckles before he had the chance to protest, and then threw it off his shoulders. When done, I backed off and angrily scowled at him, hands in my sides.

"Good! Now you can't hide! Show that pretty face to the world, Vinnie."

They were all speechless. I breathed heavily, standing there still staring ferociously at Vince. Neither of us said anything, I was trying to calm down and he looked like he considered having a heart attack or nervous breakdown.

"Great. Someone call me down for dinner, I seriously need some time alone."

With that, I left them dumbfounded and confused. It felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders; maybe next time I should try bitch-slapping someone. Nah, that actually might be overdoing it. I shut the door to my room and sat down on the bed. Okay, Wutai meditation…what was it good for again? Serenity, concentration, and…umm…inner health, or something like that. I really needed to calm down right now, and since my thoughts were scattered I could use some concentration as well.

Fact was, I needed my meditation so much I didn't even go down for dinner, but stayed in my room all evening until I went to bed, but I couldn't sleep. I lay awake for what felt like forever before I heard a soft knock on the door.

"Come in," I muttered, face buried in Vincent's t-shirt. The smell made me feel more at ease.

Allie entered, as I had expected. She sat down at the edge of my bed, shimmering in her white nightgown and silver hair. She was silent for a while, quite a long while actually, just sitting there next to me. I didn't know whether I was disturbed or comforted by this, so I just let her be. Eventually, she spoke.

"Yuffie…we were all quite surprised by your behaviour, especially Vincent. But…I think we all kind of agreed in that your act was one of righteousness. He has been carrying the burden of that cloak for too long, Tifa told me. She also said that your 'rage quit', as Denzel and Marlene labelled it when they heard about it, was a cue for him to wake up and realise that his pain affects us too, you greater than the rest of us. We all know how much you care for him, even I who have not known you for a very long time. You really gave him something to think about, Yuffie. It is a good thing. I do believe he will consider the damage it has caused you to see him wear that thing, how it has been weighing on his shoulders like a demon, claws buried deeply into him, not willing to let go. I'm proud of you, Yuffie, and so are Tifa and Vincent."

"You used an abbreviation."

"What?" She was surprised and bewildered.

"I'm proud of you. You used an abbreviation."

"Oh…I guess I did."

"Good girl, Alyera."

"You too, Yuffie. You will be there for me, right?"

"Yeah. Whenever you need me."

"Thank you. Good night."

"Night."

She left. The silence which remained in her absence felt stagnant and somewhat reassuring. I hardly had time to think about what she'd said before I was asleep.

-TWR&TH-

Waking up the following morning, I felt light, and so darn hungry I almost chewed at my 'nightgown' (which still smelt like chocolate). The hunger might be why I felt so light and so dizzy when I got up. What day even was it? Wasn't I supposed to be working? What time was it? Had they let me sleep? I didn't bother figuring out any of it, instead I decided to not give a shit about putting on clothes and went downstairs to the kitchen in just the t-shirt which almost reached my knees anyway. Entering the kitchen, I found two very energetic kids and a busy Tifa. They all said 'good morning' to me, Teefs told me there was breakfast 'scattered everywhere' and I started looking. I really wondered what they had done, or if it was Denny and Marly being creative and venting some of their energy, but I found bread on the table, butter in the fridge, juice in the freezer, cheese in the larder, tea on a shelf where Teefs kept some statuettes, the water boiler hidden in a drawer and all the clean glasses under the sink. The gnomes giggled as I searched for everything I needed for a decent breakfast, and when I finally sat down to eat they looked me like they thought I'd go rage on them, but like the lady I am, I ignored them and displayed my best etiquette whilst eating. Marly smiled all angel-ish at me, leaning forward over the table.

"You really made Vince surprised yesterday" she tittered. "When I saw him later, he was sitting there staring at his cloak and it was still on the floor and he hadn't touched it and he was just looking at it like _this_ and didn't say anything and he looked _reeeally_ confused and thoughtful and almost scary because he was so concentrated, on thinking I mean…"

She ran out of breath and stopped. They both looked at me, inquiring. It couldn't have been more obvious that they wanted to hear me tell my side of the story and why I did it. I ignored them again and kept eating, until they both sighed loudly and got grumpy looks on their cute faces. Tifa entered from the bar, noticing that I was done with breakfast.

"Oh, Yuffie, Reeve called. He wants you and Vincent in the headquarters at three."

"…Wha?" I said, dumbfounded.

"After all, you're still a WRO employee and he said it's a rather horrible matter which you and Vincent would be the perfect ones to carry out. I think I know what it's about…it's a very notorious case which has been written about in the papers, but they've been quiet for a while so you probably haven't seen anything about it while you've been here. If you could help solving this… it would benefit the whole city of Edge."

"What? What is it?"

"Go there and find out."

"But the headquarters…they're like, far away!"

"Oh, the WRO have moved to Edge now, it's more convenient and since the old one got destroyed during DeepGround's attack…"

"Does Vinnie know where it is?"

"Yes, he's been there before."

"Great, what time is it?"

"Half past twelve. Get dressed and come to the bar. You have work to do."

"What? On a Sunday? You kidding me?"

"We're always open for business, Yuffie. We do have quite a lot of lunch guests on Sundays. Get out of Vincent's clothes and brush your hair."

Speaking of the devil, Vincent entered through the back door. When he saw me in his t-shirt he stopped and blinked. The cloak was in place wrapped around his collar, hiding his face. I immediately felt the anger I meditated away yesterday boil, and I strode towards him and lifted my hand to take the fucking thing off. He's so much taller than me when he's standing. My hands never reached their goal though. His own flew up hand grabbed my wrists.

"Yuffie. Wait." I stopped fighting and stared at him. He shook his shoulders like a dog, and small silver pearls flew through the air. "It's raining."

He let go of me and undid the buckles himself, after which he hung the cloak on the peg by the back door. He gave me a 'are you happy now?' look, and I nodded.

"Good."

"…Is that the shirt I gave you?" he deadpanned.

"Yeah. It smells like you even though Teefs said you never used them. You really must reek, for unused clothes to smell like you, vamps. All mould and old blood and-"

I was cut off by Vincent charging at me, grabbing the front of the t-shirt. I thought, '_Now I've done it, now he's going to kill me for sure' _because of hissuddenly violent behaviour. His eyes looked angry, and his grip of the shirt was tight. He leaned forward and whispered in my ear so that no-one else would hear.

"If I reeked, you would not wear something which smelled like me. You _like_ it, Yu-ffie." He dragged my name out, making it sound like he tried to taste it…or as if there was something erotic about it. It sent chills down my spine. Also, the way he emphasised 'like'. "You want to smell it. You know you do. And talking me into taking off my cloak…was that just something you did to get _closer _to me?"

He let go of me. That was when I realised that he had lifted me slightly from the floor, and a quiver ran down my body when I imagined what that inhuman strength of his could've done to me if he had been angry with me. As it was, he had only tricked me into believing he was mad, when all he really wanted was… to what? What was all that even supposed to mean? He had made it sound all sexual, what was wrong with him? My face was flushed and my heart was racing. Vincent, that…that troll! He fucking trolled me! Oh, that was so like him, flying into a fit of trolling. He was like that sometimes, did totally un-Vincent-y stuff just like this. I scowled angrily at him; and he met my gaze looking rather amused. He smirked, that bastard.

"We are going to Reeve to get a mission today," he said in his normal tone. "Be ready to leave at half past two." He swept past me – I was amazed at how he could sweep even without the cloak – and disappeared up the stairs. I was left standing bewildered and shaken, in the wrinkled t-shirt. I stood there for a while, angrily clenching my fists, before rushing up the stairs and into my room, slamming the door. While dressing, I looked out through the window. It was raining alright – pouring down from a dark steel-coloured sky. I sighed as I thought of walking to the new headquarters in this weather. I quickly prayed to Leviathan, begging him to stop the rain before it was time for me to head out. I doubted he'd take any notice of my petty desires though. Dragging my steps, I went down yet again and through the kitchen which was now empty except Tifa, who was putting used glasses in the dishwasher.

"Yuffie! You and Alyera take care of the customers, I'll see to the dishes."

"What? When you have a dishwasher?"

"You haven't noticed until now? This dishwasher alone isn't enough, I have to wash the plates by hand."

"Then why don't you get a new one?"

"There's not enough space for one. It's fine, I have time for this now that you two ladies can tend to the bar."

I muttered something and went out to join Allie. She looked stressed, her eyes were wide and she seemed to be on the verge of collapsing. There really were a lot of customers, more than usual, probably because of the weather. Lots of men gathered in groups around the tables, drinking beer and laughing. I liked it when the customers wanted beer; it saved me much trouble with mixing drinks. Every now and then someone ordered lunch, and Tifa cooked it in the kitchen. Time flied, and all of a sudden Vincent was standing behind me. I understood what he wanted, and nodded. Alyera smiled faintly at me.

"Tifa told me you were going on a mission for the WRO. So you know Reeve Tuesti? That is amazing, after all he is one of the most influential people in the world! Good luck, Yuffie, Vincent."

"Thanks, Allie," I said and gave her a big hug before leaving. The stream of thirsty people had thinned out a little, so there wouldn't be a problem for her handling it all by herself. I realised something and stopped halfway through the kitchen.

"Vinnie, it's still raining, and I don't have a jacket, not even a hoodie."

He just pointed at an umbrella leaning against the wall by the back door. I felt stupid, but didn't show him and instead picked it up like it was nothing. I feared that he knew me too well and would see through my little act though, that stupid vampire. He hn'd me and opened the door, letting me go first. Opening the umbrella, I felt the lukewarm, damp summer air gently caressing my skin, in spite of the heavy rain it wasn't cold at all. We started walking, side by side, Vincent now draped in his cloak again. The water just ran off him, hardly even wetting the fabric. I envied him at first, but then thought that I preferred the umbrella. Getting my hair and face wet wouldn't be all that fun, not even in a badass cloak like that one.

I thought of asking him where the headquarters were, but figured it was pretty pointless actually. He never gave any decent answers, that one. Instead I just went silently and nicely at his side, feeling like a dog on a walk with its master. I wondered what mission Reeve had for us – if he wanted me and Vince especially, it probably involved stealth and fighting. We could both disappear, and we were skilled combatants. Everyone knew we were an awesome kickass team, too. But…what needed those kinds of services nowadays? Wasn't the world at peace? Of course, there would always be criminals, but what sort of robber or whatever craved two top-rank warriors? This was serious shit, that I understood. But it just made me curious, doing something practical and important, finally I was back where I belonged: In action, busy saving the world!

Deep in thoughts, time flied again, and before I knew it we were standing outside the headquarters. I immediately understood it was them, the building was practically identical to the old one. As we entered, I saw WRO soldiers turning their heads towards us, some of them almost staring, some pointing, most of them saluting. Guess we were pretty famous around here. I grinned and waved at them, Vince didn't give shit about them. He led me to a lift, in which we went up to the top floor (I lost count of how many floors there were) and followed the signs pointing towards the commissioner's room. I checked my phone, and saw that we were two minutes early but Reeve would probably not be too whiny about it. Of course, I was right, because he told us to come in when Vinnie knocked, and we followed orders nicely and entered. He greeted us with a wide smile, and I in return rushed to him and gave the old geezer a huge hug. I had actually missed him, it was a long time since DeepGround, it seemed like.

"Hello there Yuffie," he smiled.

"Hi!" I happily replied, doing my best to crush his ribs. He laughed and gently removed my arms, taking a deep breath with a relieved look now that he had access to air again. But then, his face darkened and he gestured towards two armchairs in front of his enormous writing table. We sat down, and he took seat in the gigantic throne he called 'chair'.

"I have summoned you here to discuss a matter of great importance and severity. There is a mission I trust to you. It will require both of your skills in tracking, invisibility and fighting. Have you read the newspapers?" I shook my head and Vince nodded slightly. "There is a rapist loose in Edge. However, he's not just any ordinary rapist. He has attacked over thirty women of various ages, and successfully raped twenty-three of them. Also…he doesn't just rape them; he tortures them in the cruellest of ways. He cuts them, he uses tools on them…drills, saws, pliers, everything possible. It is frightening that such a psycho is roaming free in our city. He has assaulted everything from twelve-year-olds to old ladies at the age of eighty. This is a madman who needs to be dealt with at once. My troops aren't swift enough, when they arrive he is long since gone from the scene of the crime. That's where the two of you come into the picture. Traverse the rooftops, prevent this from happening again, and catch the insane man doing this. Do you accept the mission?"

Vincent nodded. I was silent, I couldn't make a sound, the shock was too big. What person would do something like that? I was lost for words, gasping for air, eyes wide open. I must have looked like a fish on dry land, but what could I possibly do? I hadn't heard of this before, it was completely new to me. Reeve and Vincent were both watching me, concerned.

"Vincent, I entrust Yuffie's safety to you during this mission. Do not let him near her."

Vinnie nodded. "I will not let that mental person touch Yuffie."

I was dazed. I hardly noticed Vincent and Reeve speaking, or when we left. Suddenly we were out in the pouring rain again, and I woke up. Walking back towards Seventh Heaven, I was still quiet. I noticed Vincent glancing at me every now and then, but I needed time to digest this information. I had some vague memory of Reeve telling us that our mission started tonight and lasted until the rapist was caught, and that I wouldn't be working in the bar during that time. I was to get paid by the WRO instead of Tifa, and we were both to get a salary when the madman was safely behind bars.

Vince told me to go upstairs and rest, and he'd inform Tifa and Alyera about our quest. I quietly did as he said and went to my room, lying down on my bed, staring into the ceiling. I wanted to do this. I wanted to catch that scum and lock him in jail for the rest of his rotten life. I was boiling, I couldn't wait until they let me at him! Wasn't it nightfall soon? I wanted to find him, slice him up like meat, dye the streets in his blood. The rage was tearing me apart from the inside, when I had that son of a bitch in my hands, he'd regret the day he as much as gazed at a woman in the wrong way. Furious, I clenched the covers, shaking. How could such a pervert even exist? How was it possible for a human being to find pleasure in such an act? I couldn't rest, not with this on my mind. I turned over on one side and looked at the alarm clock on the table beside my bed. It informed me it was four o'clock. Damn this, I couldn't stay here all day! Decisive, I got up and went down.

"I need something to do. I can't rest. Anything, please Tifa, give me anything at all to do!"

Tifa understood, and she let me work with Allie in the bar again. Alyera was curious of our mission, it seemed Vincent had only told Teefs and not her. I figured he hadn't because she was sensitive and would probably be scared for the rest of her life if she heard about the crazy rapist, but I decided she needed toughening up and if she knew about it, she'd be careful when out at night – not that I knew why she'd be out late, but still. So I told her, whispering to not bother the customers with such horrifying stories. As I thought, she went even paler and stared at me in terror and disbelief.

"Oh, my…" She had a hard time finding the words. "Why do _you_ have to go? Why can't they send men on this mission? You'll be in danger!"

"I know, Allie, but I have Vincent. He won't let that psycho get anywhere near me, and when fighting him, I keep my distance and attack with my Eveningstar. I'll be fine, it's not me you should worry about, it's the other girls and women in Edge. Until that crazy motherfucker is caught, no-one is safe."

She still looked unsure, but nodded. I smiled and tried to get both our minds off the matter by talking about ordinary every-day stuff. It worked to some extent, but there was worry in her face as well as mine even after a long while of friendly chit-chatting. Since it was summer, daylight lingered. The bar closed at ten on Sundays, and at six people started pouring in for dinner. I tried to keep my mind occupied with work, but the business was too slow for me to be able to do that – every time I had even the smallest pause I started thinking of my upcoming mission. Vincent passed by every now and then, his reason was that he 'felt restless' and suddenly couldn't use the back door anymore, but I knew him too well. How could someone who spent hours and hours doing nothing but thinking and brooding, after having slept for thirty years in a row, be restless? No, he just wanted to check up on me at least once every other one-and-a-half hours. I appreciated it, but it was kinda annoying. I wasn't a child who had to be kept under surveillance. But, Vincent being typical, he seemed to believe I was. Stupid vampire. When he passed by the third time, I glared at him and put out my tongue. He frowned and grunted. When disappearing into the kitchen I yelled some of my ordinary insults at him, which made him 'Hn' me and look even more grumpy. I snorted and went back to my duties as a barmaid.

We closed down at ten as scheduled, but it wasn't really dark yet. I didn't care; I went to find Vinnie and asked him if we could leave now. He looked at me with that creepy X-ray gaze and then nodded slightly. I went to my room, gathered my Eveningstar and some small shuriken and kunai, meditated for two minutes to chill down (I failed), and then headed down to the kitchen where a worried Tifa and even more worried Allie waited for me together with Vinnie. Cloud was nowhere to be seen, I figured he'd gone away working before I woke up and hadn't come home yet. He wasn't exactly the best family father, leaving his woman and kids - even though none of them were his, really - all alone like this. Denny and Marly were kept away from this information, thankfully, and didn't know me and Vince were going out, since they had already gone to bed. I tried my best to look relaxed and confident, and being the awesome actress I am, I tricked the girls into believing I was, but I knew Vinnie wouldn't be fooled that easily. However, he didn't act like a mother hen like somebody else, cough _Teefs_ cough.

"Right!" I said. "Off we go, bye Teefs, bye Allie, we'll have that sicko caught before you can even say ''tadmititthatloser', so you two have nothing to worry about. Take care while we're gone and don't miss me too much, I'll take care of Vince and protect him if he faints from fear, I promise!"

Nervous laughter. Teefs seemed somewhat relieved though, and with that, we left through the back door. Following Reeve's orders, we jumped on some boxes to get up to the roofs of the nearby houses, from where we continued, watching the dark alleys and dimly lit streets carefully, listening intensely. This wouldn't last for long, I hoped. I wanted to be the one to catch him and put him behind bars. I was all pumped, fired up, ready for action!

_**Gotta love them cliffhanger thingies :3 I'll try to update soon, I have present fics to write for Christmas though, so it'll take a while. But, in the meantime you can enjoy those present fics, one of them will be a sequel (the second sequel, actually) to Legends Still Alive, my most popular fic. The other…well I can tell! Dear sister Sunrose will see! Oh, and thank you for beta reading this, dear 3 BROFIST! :D Also, this guy isn't something I've made up, I'm not that sick. He's a real person, who assaulted and raped many women of different ages during two years in a city not far from here. When he was caught, it turned out he was only twenty-two or something. It was really scary, one of my sisters live there, I was worried for her all the time :/ So, review? :3**_

_**Love, Shade Lamora**_


	11. Chapter 10: Angel of Justice

_**Long time no see, and here I've had this new chapter ready for quite a while, but my beta reader is busy and I was waiting for her…I'm not mad, Sunrose dear, but I miss you! Ahem, new chapter it is, and action to boot Sorry for whatever errors this may still contain, I have a habit of jumping words without noticing it even when I read it through ^^' I hope you'll enjoy!**_

**Chapter 10: **_Angel of Justice_

Jumping across the rooftops was no problem for an expert super-great ninja like me and a demon-host like Vinnie, and we swiftly made our way to the district with the highest crime rate. The night was clear, and the bright moonlight lit our path as we split the chilly air, almost flying. I was fired up, but the closer to our goal we came, the more uneasy I got. It took us about twenty minutes to get there, and we didn't speak a single word; Vincent because he simply doesn't speak, I because I was too busy jumping, running, thinking and being psyched up. Narrow alleys, shabby bars, ragged people lurking in the doorways. This was the part of Edge most people pretended didn't exist; the kind of neighbourhood you kept away from. And that was exactly why we were here. Reeve had told Vincent, but not me for some reason, that this was where more than forty per cent of the assaults had happened. The madman rapist seemed to frequent this area, so this was where our chance of catching him was the greatest. We stopped atop the flat roof of a run-down apartment complex, where Vince signed to me to sit down. Impatient, I did so, crossing my legs and glaring at him. He was disrupting my rhythm. He crouched down in front of me, his face told me he was going to be serious so I straightened up and put on a concentrated look, trying to act like a grown-up instead of a sullen child.

"Yuffie. I want you to listen carefully. We'll be less effective if we stick together, so I suggest we split up. If any of us find the culprit, we have to let the other know. As for me, I just have to shoot and you will hear me. However…I do not know yet how you can inform me."

"It's okay, I know. I just have to take off my clothes and the screams from the fanboys will be heard all over the place. Also, you can just follow the streams of nosebleed-blood. It's a foolproof plan!"

Vincent was not impressed. He didn't move an inch from his pose; the typical stalking-vampire-of-the-night where he squatted down on his toes, legs spread in a way that would look ridiculously suggestive if it wasn't Vince, arms resting on his thighs and hands hanging down between his knees. I never understood how the hell he managed to keep his balance like that; let alone being able not to move at all even though it was a little windy and both his hair and cloak were dancing and tugging at him. I always guessed it must have something to do with his demons, perhaps they provided a super-human sense of balance too?

"I do hope you are not serious about this, Yuffie."

"Of course not, stupid vampire. You seriously think I'd strip like a slut when a crazy rapist is nearby? For the love of Leviathan, you're a real moron!" I ignored his angry face and continued. "Look, I've got a Fire Materia here. This is what I do; I throw my Eveningstar into the air sand at the same time I activate the fire magic. The result's a brightly burning star in the night sky, and unless you're totally blind you won't miss it. You can praise my smartness later, let's get going already!"

Vincent nodded, and now he looked…warm. That was the best way to describe it. He wasn't quite smiling, but the crimson in his eyes wasn't full of cold, murderous intent but instead they were warm, like a gentle fire greeting you home after a day out in the blizzard. He seemed pleased by my idea with the Fire Materia, his eyes were smiling with a rare kindness as he got up to his feet and actually offered me his hand to help me up. I was surprised by this gentlemanly act, but I gratefully accepted it and got up as well. The night air felt colder now; I shivered slightly as we continued along the roof. We found a fire escape ladder which brought us down to the silent street. There were noises in the distance, emitted by people on their way to and from the many bars, pubs and dirty restaurants in this area. We stood in an alley filled with trash and rubble, surrounded by towering dark apartment buildings which seemed to close in on us, almost ready to cave in over us. It was actually quite creepy, the entire place had a looming eerie, spooky aura about it. I couldn't help but glance to my left and right all the time, expecting to see mad serial killers emerge from the brick walls caging us. Our only escape was going down the narrow alleyway behind Vincent's back, and out to the dimly lit street that waited for us beyond. I started thinking of a story I had heard once, about a killer who cut his victims up in a foggy city. It gave me the chills, but I tried relaxing as to not show how nervous and tense I was to Vince. I'm pretty sure he sensed it anyway, because he was giving me weird, almost worried, looks all the time as we made our way down the dark path. By the time we had fled the black and plunged into the greyish yellow, it was highly noticeable that this night _was_ quite misty; in the dull rays from the street lights I could see it swirling, just as dirty and filthy as the unclean concrete walls on both sides of the street. I seriously had the willies now, and it was hard to believe that this was the same Edge I lived in. It looked like a scene from a horror movie, when the young couple take a shortcut on their way home but end up in a bad neighbourhood, where they are chased by hoodlums and eventually get killed in some gruesome and horrifying fashion. I was unaware of that I had moved closer to Vince until I actually felt the fabric of his cloak graze my arm, causing me to wince and jump. He glanced at me, brow furrowed, and I replied with a strained smile, trying to cover up my anxiety, most likely failing hard.

"Are you afraid, Yuffie?" he asked.

"Nah, a little jumpy maybe, but I'm just so excited!" I quickly lied and pretended to look around to hide my nervous face. As long as I could keep my voice steady and cheery, I hoped I would be able to fool him. After all, being excited wasn't strange for me, so using my amazing acting skills, the mouldy vampire wouldn't notice anything out of the ordinary. "Anyway, we gonna split up now?"

Oh, I could hear how close my voice was to trembling, and it made me so angry with myself. What happened to the brave ninja princess who saved the world _thrice_? What was I doing? I wasn't one to be scared like this. It was one thing to face the strongest villain in the world, but this was just some sicko who needed to be caught, not Sephiroth or one of his leather-clad avatars. So why, _why the hell was I so scared?_ I closed my eyes and ransacked my mind. I knew the answer fully well, I just didn't want to admit it, not to myself, not to anyone. I, Yuffie Kisaragi, the single White Rose of Wutai, was scared of the rapist. Because I was a woman. Because I could understand the fear of his victims, the pain and the humiliation, the shock and the paranoia afterwards, the tears. Despite being recognised as a great fighter, I, the woman behind the warrior's mask, shivered with fright thinking about it. I wrapped my arms around my waist, cowering like a scared little girl. I cursed myself for doing this as I heard Vincent's footsteps when he strode the short distance between us and put his normal hand on my shoulder. I let it rest there for a couple of seconds before shaking it off. Vince couldn't do shit for me right now. We were going to split up, he couldn't protect me and I didn't need protection anyway. I could handle myself very well, without the aid of some old dude who wouldn't age and kept looking young and attractive when he should be all wrinkly and gramps-like. I raised my head and turned to face him, grinning.

"Okay, you go that way and I go here. That fine with you? Great, then, see ya when I find him! You ain't got nothing on me old guy, I'm a ninja, expert tracker, so I'll be the one to find him. Soooo-rrry!"

I sped off, leaving Vincent with his worries. The chilly air seemed to somewhat brush away my fear, and as I ran energy and warmth began to build up inside of me, cleansing my body of terror's cold claws. A strange feeling of freedom rooted in my mind and spread throughout my nerves, its fire of audacity burning in my veins. Why would I be scared? I had helped in beating Sephiroth, this was small fry for me. He should be the one trembling when he heard my name being whispered among the lowlife thugs, he should fear me as I, like an angel of justice, struck him with my sword of vengeance, as swift as a bolt of lightning! He better hide while he still had the chance, for soon the Great Ninja Yuffie would be on his trail, hunting him down and casting him back to hell where he belonged, soon there would be naught left for him than defeat, soon his eyes would see only the devil's grin as the flames consumed his body, soon…

My internal pep-up talk was interrupted by a girl's scream. I stopped and frantically tried to hear from where it came. I decided upon following a road that would take me to the very outskirts of these slums, and continued. When the girl screamed again, I was definitely closer. But this time, her scream was followed by that of a man. Had the rapist attacked a couple, or was this something entirely different? It didn't really matter; someone was in trouble and as a hero fighting for righteousness and peace, I had to act. I used a pile of rubble to get to the rooftops again, from where it was much easier to find the source of the screams. When the shadowy buildings were no longer in my way, I quickly picked up speed, darting forwards like an arrow in the silver moonlight. The third time the girl screamed, I could hear other loud voices fighting, and was able to pinpoint their location. Down on a narrow street right in front of me, two worn and dirty men were aiming deformed swords at a young woman. A guy who was probably her boyfriend was crouching near her, it seemed like he was holding his hand to his side. Was he hurt? I cursed the small space between the apartment buildings as they prevented me from using my shuriken at maximum power. Long throws were disabled, and the probability of it returning to me was greatly decreased. Dammit, these muggers had really picked a bad spot. But there was no time for further analysis of the situation, neither did I have an awesome introduction line. Using "bask in my rays, evildoers" was getting old, and I never thought up a new one. So, I simply jumped downwards between the walls, as fast and agile as expected from the best ninja in the world. I landed right where I had aimed, of course, between the girl and her assaulters. They looked confused, almost scared, at the sight of me. They sure as hell had not been prepared for this. Dumbfounded, they did nothing but stare at me with their swords raised. Now that I was closer, I could see that their blades were nothing more than pieces of steel hammered flat and attached to a wooden hilt with metal straps and nails. Before the men had time to react to the appearance of this stunningly beautiful new enemy, I had kicked the sword out of the hand of the one to the right, and used my Eveningstar to slash the forearm of the other, making him lose his grip of his weapon and dropping it on the ground. They both yelled in anger, the one I had cut charged at me while his companion reached for his sword. I dodged the attack by moving to the side, and when he had passed by me I kicked him hard in the knees, causing him to fall into a position as he was praying. Using the Eveningstar as a counterweight for gaining more speed and a heavier impact, I swung my arms towards the back of his neck and hit. He moaned and fell face down on the concrete. He wouldn't be of any trouble for at least two hours now. Before I had the time to catch my breath though, I heard the sound of a sword cleaving the air behind me. Instinctively, I dodge rolled to the left. The steel passed by above me, missing me with a decimetre. I was on my feet before the other guy had realised he'd missed. Because he had swung his blade from left to right, he now stood holding the hilt while the tip had buried itself in the street, two metres away from his target. He looked surprised, and the second before my foot hit his face he looked up at me, surprise turning into disbelief and shock. Had I given him enough time, the next emotion on the palette that was his dirty face would probably have been fear, but instead he was knocked unconscious and fell to the ground. With both my foes down, I took a couple of seconds to breathe and put Eveningstar back in her straps on my back. I had almost forgotten about the young couple, but was reminded of their presence as the girl cried out. I turned around and saw her holding the young man in her arms. He was breathing heavily, and now I could see the dark spot of blood on the right side of his shirt. I rushed over to them, and squatted down in front of them.

"Hey, how are you guys? You badly hurt?"

"Please help him! Those men attacked him when he wouldn't give them our wallets, please help him, he's bleeding…"

The girl seemed to be in a state of shock, she was crying and her brown hair was glued across her face from the tears and sweat. I smiled a little at her, trying to calm her down. The man was in pain, but if his wound had ben deadly, there would be more blood than this. I reached inside one of the pockets in my shorts, and found the Restore Materia I had bought with me in case of just this kind of situation.

"Don't worry, it's not as bad as it might look at first glance. He'll be fine, I'll heal him now, and you call an ambulance. I'm not a doctor, so he should be taken to the hospital to further tend to his injuries. You should get some help too, you seem shocked" I said as I summoned the warm light of a Cure and let it flow from my hand to the young man. His wound wasn't visible underneath the shirt, but the effect of the magic could be seen through his facial expression. He looked more and more relaxed, and when I was done his head fell to the side. The girl made a squeaky noise, probably thinking he was dead.

"He's just unconscious. You call that ambulance now, and ask for some WRO soldiers as well to get these guys behind bars" I said and nodded towards the knocked out muggers. The brunette did as I told her and pulled her mobile phone from her bag, dialling a number. I decided to stay with them until help arrived. In this state, they were an easy target for anyone. I sat down, leaned back against a wall, enjoying the rest. I realised how long ago it had been since I last fought like this. I was happy that I hadn't become rusty and that my ninja instincts were still there and hadn't been dulled from not being used for so long. Damn, I had missed fighting! Even to myself I sounded like a violent idiot with nothing else than lust for hurting others in my head, but this was the truth. And the difference between me and those dirty men on the concrete street was that I didn't fight for my own winning's sake, but to protect others from evil. But, did I have the authority to decide who was evil and not? Well, it was a question of standpoints…

I shook my head. What the bloody hell was I doing? This was so out of character for me! This was Vincent-y kinda thinking, stuff I should keep away from. Or was I really…grown up? Ready to take on the difficult questions in life? No way! I didn't wanna become a boring adult with no imagination, vision or dreams. Working every day, never having fun, so scared of losing their face all the time, always trying to keep their appearances up. I'd rather die. Everybody still saw me as a child, sure, it was annoying to not be taken seriously because they didn't consider me old or mature enough for some things, but at the same time, who had the most fun? Me! I never wanted to become stiff like Vince, deadly serious like Cloud or wrinkly like Reeve. Being over 25, Cid was okay, but he was one of a kind. Old smoke-man, always calling me brat. Brat. I never liked it, but I knew he wasn't going to stop it, so I simply had to accept it. Would he stop if I proved myself to be more mature? Could I finally get rid of that stupid nickname? It was a pleasing thought. I was torn between the two sides. I wanted to stay Yuffie, and I knew that I'd probably always be childish to some extent even if I so lived to be a hundred millions years, and then it was up to people to accept it or not, I didn't give shit about what others thought of me. The other side found the thought of being regarded as an adult appealing. Argh, this was hard! And _again_, I was thinking about stuff I shouldn't. Goddammit, why couldn't I just decide to not give a fuck about anything and simply…be the way I felt like? Acting without thinking like I always had, and never worry about it. If I was to mature, then I'd do it without really noticing and still be myself. Wasn't harder than that. Vincent and his stupid over-maturity had bad influence on me. Me and Vince were so different. I was a sakura bud ready to burst and spread my beautiful petals like a skirt around me, he was a thistle ready to wither after having withstood countless years on a windy moor. Poor thing, he had never lived in the sun, not one day. All he had seen was the clouds chasing across the sky, driven by the harsh wind rustling him without a moment's rest. I, on the other hand, would bloom in sunshine and give joy to those who saw me with my light, beautiful colours and vivid appearance. He was depressing and dull, didn't catch the eye and could become entirely invisible, whereas I was impossible to miss. He didn't _want_ to be seen; I wouldn't let my presence be unnoticed by anyone. That was the difference between us, the White Rose and the Demon-host.

The sound of ambulance sirens closing in reached my ears, and I woke up from my thoughts. Damn, what if Vincent had found the rapist while I had been sitting here? If he wasn't extraordinarily super-awesome, Vince wouldn't have any trouble with incapacitating him. But I still wanted to be part of the fight, Mouldy better not dare catching that villain on his own! Sure, I had taken care of two muggers by myself, but my mission was the women-assaulting insane asshole, not thugs from the slums. My feet itched, urging me to get up and start looking again. I had been still for too long, I was getting cold. I listened closely; the ambulance would be here in a minute, judging by the sirens. I rose to my feet and cast a glance at the young couple. The girl was carefully holding her boyfriend, looking down at him with a gentle expression on her face which was now covered with smeared blood. It seemed like she had tried wiping the tears away with her hand, coloured by the young man's blood. It was a horrific and macabre scene; the girl wore a white dress, stained with dirt and blood, holding the seemingly lifeless body of a man. She looked like an angel of death who'd come to take his soul, and now was silently mourning his death while being happy that he'd found peace at her hand at the same time. I shivered, and the feeling of being part in a horror movie started to come back. I needed to leave. I went over to the two, silently as to not disturb them, which I knew I would do anyway since I planned on talking to the girl. She looked up at me, still with that weird expression of sorrow, death and serenity across her features. It was really creepy, and I decided to make it quick.

"The ambulance is near. I'm outta here. Take care, okay?"

She nodded silently, staring at me with her eyes wide open. As I turned around to leave in a totally epic heroine-walking-away-disappearing-into-the-darkness way, I heard her voice call out to me.

"Wait, miss!" I stopped and looked questioningly at her. "I…thank you. On his behalf as well, you saved us, you really did."

"No need to thank me, I only did my job. Kinda. Whatever, stay outta trouble."

I didn't let her say anything more, but swiftly ran away, fading into the fog like a real awesomely epic super-cool heroine should. I heard the ambulance come around the corner just as I made it to the roof of the lowest building around, from where I could easily make it to the higher ones and continue on through the night. I wanted to find either more criminals to fight – preferably the rapist – or Vincent, and check up on him. I ran for about fifteen minutes without seeing or hearing anything special. But then, a gunshot pierced the stillness above the city's hustle and bustle. I recognised it at once. It was, with no doubt, Cerberus. From where? Another shot. To my right! I changed destination and hurried towards the direction from where the shots came. Although I knew Vincent wouldn't be in trouble even if he was attacked by a behemoth, I still told myself he was in dire need of my help in order to be able to run faster. No way I'd miss out on some action! He thought he could hog all the fun for himself, but I sure as hell wouldn't let him. I sped up even further, and when a third shot echoed between the concrete walls I knew I was close. Down to a lower roof, grab onto a pole to swing around a chimney, ricochet like a bullet against the walls, slowly descending, constantly accelerating. I had just enough time to notice Vincent, Cerberus lifted and aimed at a bunch of tough-looking guys with strange tribal tattoos, before I had flown past him like a projectile. Had I been any faster, I would've glowed like a shooting star ascending from the heavens. As I passed by Vincent, he raised his head, surprised, staring with his eyes wide open. I would've crashed straight into the motorcycle gang-looking dudes if I hadn't activated my Fire Materia and blasted off a Firaga at them, using the shockwaves from the blast to slow down and catch hold of the bars in a balcony's rail to stop. I dropped down to the ground, glancing over my shoulder.

"Heya Vince! Good thing I've got your back, old man, this could've ended badly if not the avenging angel Yuffie Kisaragi had come to your aid, y'know!"

I swear I saw the shadow of a smile before he grumpied up again.

"I do not need your help in a simple fight such as this one, Yuffie."

"Oh, sure you don't. But know what, I don't give shit about what you say, so I'mma help you anyway!"

Turning back to face the thugs, I saw some of them knocked out and burnt on the ground, while the rest were slowly regaining balance and teaming up for a counterattack. My Firaga wasn't as powerful as it had been during the wars due to lack of practising magic, but it had still taken out four or five people. I noticed now that contrary to what I had thought, there were a few women among the gang members. Too bad for them I didn't have mercy upon ladies, or rather hags, when they were criminals. It occurred to me that I didn't know if they were criminals or not. What if Vinnie was a prejudicing asshole and thought they were because they looked the way they did? Nah, didn't sound like Vince. I decided to believe that these people were bad guys, and quickly assumed my battle stance, unstrapping Eveningstar from my back, ready to throw. A slight breeze and the flutter of fabric, and Vincent was suddenly standing by my side. I looked up at him, grinning; he nodded with a small "Hn". Team Yuffentine ready for battle!

"You bitch!" screamed one of the men in front of us, glaring hatefully at me.

"That's rude, dickhead!" I responded and charged at them as I threw Eveningstar. She missed the man with a couple of metres.

"Yer nothin' more than a brat widda weapon after all!" the man bellowed. He and his comrades all laughed at me, while I did nothing but smile at them. Their laughing stopped when Eveningstar came back and brought down two of them from behind, before returning to my hand.

"Oh really? You must be right, I'm just a kiddo with a weapon. I know nothing about this thing, that just now was merely luck."

Aggravated, they charged while roaring like horny wildebeest. I did several continuous somersaults back to my position at Vincent's side and grinned at him.

"How about we let them taste a round of Phoenix Storm?" He nodded at my suggestion, and raised Cerberus. I activated the fire material, and one again threw Eveningstar, who started to glow and then burst into flames like a meteor. As she reached our foes, the flames brightened and blinded them with an effulgent light. At that time, Vincent made his move. Jumping high into the air, he fired one shot after another into the inferno my fire magic had created. With his special abilities, avoiding mortal wounds was no problem. This way, he'd just disable them by shooting their shoulders and legs. He landed again on the railing of a balcony, from where he gracefully jumped back to where he had started. Eveningstar came back to my hand, the flames surrounding her vanquished and drawn back into the Materia. As we had gone back to our starting positions, both the fire and the screams from inside it faded. Left on the ground was a bunch of pitiful creatures, writhing in pain.

"What a lot of pushovers", I sighed. Vinnie hn'd me to show how much he agreed and how well he thought I had phrased it. "I suppose we created enough ruckus to have drawn attention, don't ya think?"

"Hn. WRO troops should arrive before these bandits have a chance to flee."

"'Bandits'? Really? You sound like a kid. You're so damn old-fashioned! Nobody says 'bandits' anymore!"

"Let's go."

Vamps avoided my accusations as always, and started making his way outta there. I rushed after him to catch up, and tugged at his arm.

"Hey, hey, Vinnie! Guess what I did? I took out two butt-ugly muggers all by myself, and saved the cute young couple they were robbing, ain't I great, hey, hey, Vince, you listening you stupid old mouldy damn stupid deaf stupid old vampire, you listening I'm asking ya?"

"Hn. It seems you have made yourself useful."

"'Made myself useful', are you kidding me? I'm awesome I say, you hear that, awesome! I saved their lives y'know!"

"Good work, Yuffie."

I was so surprised by his compliment I shut up immediately and just stared. I had felt hyperactive since the fight with the gang got serious, and acting according my plan to not think, I vented it by talking. Now I was lost for words. Vincent complimenting me was rare, and him telling me 'good job' at a time like this when I was most likely annoying him outta his mind rendered me speechless. However, I quickly regained speaking ability and asked him what I had been wondering since I encountered him and the thugs.

"So…why were you fighting those people? What'd they do?"

"I saw them trying to break into a store. You probably didn't notice, but there was a back entrance sealed with metal bars where we fought. I believe it was the shop of a pawnbroker."

"Huh…for a while there, I almost thought you attacked them because they looked suspicious with those tattoos or something. But then I thought that you wouldn't do anything like that. So, we gonna split up again?"

"Yes, the night is not over and neither is our mission."

"Okay then, but how long we gonna continue looking for that rapist dude? I mean, when _is_ the night over?"

"I suggest we continue looking until the sun rises. Meet up with me at that clock tower when the sun becomes visible in the east."

"Okay, get my ass to the clock tower in the morning, got it. Don't fall sleep somewhere now, old dude."

"Hn."

"Bye, vamps!"

I darted off, leaving him scowling and probably pretty irritated. Just the way I liked it.

-TWR&TH-

The night proceeded with no serious disturbances. I smacked down a drug dealer and left him with a note saying _'For WRO troops. A little present as thanks for your hard work. Sincerely, Avenging Angel Ninja' _, disabled a few idiots thrashing a car and wrote a similar message on their faces, and told a bunch of drunk youths that alcohol is bad, while hiding in the shadows sounding completely awesome. I hoped that Tifa wouldn't be mad at me for undermining her occupation. I had a lot of time left to think, but tried to avoid it and managed to do so, at least to some extent. I was starting to feel tired, and even slipped a couple of times, almost falling off the roof I was jumping to. Time seemed to slow down more and more, and it felt like I had been out searching for at least twelve hours. It was a relief when I finally saw the first light spread over the sky, and from there it didn't take long until a shivering, golden shard appeared over the horizon. I let out the stress I had begun to feel the last two or three hours in one huge exhale, and looked around for the clock tower. As soon as I had located it, I began making my way there. It took me longer than I had expected. It couldn't be more than four kilometres there, probably less, but my tired body was growing numb and slow. When I eventually reached the landmark, Vincent gave me a look which all too clearly said that he'd been waiting for quite some time.

"Sorry, Vinnie", I muttered. "I'm tired. I've been awake for like, a day. You don't expect me to be as vigorous as you, do ya?"

"No, I do not. You do indeed look like you could use some sleep."

"Let's go back to Seventh Heaven then. Come on, I have planned a date with my bed, I don't wanna be late."

Vincent nodded, and we embarked on our glorious journey back to the palace where my golden and very shiny bed awaited. Now that I didn't have to stay alert anymore, tiredness swept over me at an overwhelming speed, and I stumbled and almost fell several times. Dammit, I just wanted to sleep! As I tripped again, I felt that I didn't have the strength to avoid the fall. I had used a lot of my energy for those powerful magic attacks, and I had been running all night. At least I was too tired to really feel any pain from when I hit the roof. Actually, I didn't feel pain at all. Strange. I raised my head and saw black hair and crimson fabric. Vincent had caught me on his back. I tried protesting, feeling like a little kid who had to be carried by her parents.

"Just rest. It is not far to Seventh Heaven. I will carry you there."

I mumbled something that was supposed to be 'I don't need your help mould-head, you better make sure you don't break a leg, old dude!", but ended up quite inaudible. Oh, whatever. In my current state I didn't have any dignity to protect anyway. Might as well let Vinnie be my chocobo to carry me to bed.

I woke up when he let me down and I landed on the soft mattress. I forced myself up and untied my boots. Vincent left me without a word, and I continued to change into the black t-shirt before allowing myself to fall back on the pillow and finally get some rest.

_**Awwwwww, isn't Vinnie just adorable? :3 Uh, I mean, a total bitch. Ahem. Anyway, Yuffie kicks ass! Yay! I think I kinda know where this is all going, I do have a plot and stuff…and I change it all the time xD Yay for inconsequent plot ideas! Reviews make my day~**_

_**Love,  
Shade Lamora**_


	12. Chapter 11: Nightmare

_**Late, I know. But May is a busy month! National tests (same tests in all of Sweden to determine the students' skills in Maths, English and Swedish. It is also possible to see what schools are better and so on. Also, May is theatre month, so I've rehearsed and performed and spent over 12 hours day at the theatre. It's fun, but oh so tiring! Anyway, after all that was over with, I wrote super much so this chapter is extra long :D Also, loads of action and fluff in this one :3 Please enjoy!  
DISCLAIMER: I do not own FFVII, only my own character Alyera and this ridiculous and silly plot.**_

**Chapter eleven **- _Nightmare_

Vincent woke me up by entering my room as if it was the most normal thing in the world. It startled me, and I jumped halfway to the ceiling. Somewhere in the back of my head I wondered how the hell I woke up from just that, since he hadn't said anything yet. I was still tired and shouldn't have been interrupted in my sleep even if Chocoass and Tifa made wild and passionate love next to me in my bed. Not that they would do that of course, since Birdbutt was soft as marshmallow under all that emo clothing and wouldn't dare confess his eternal love for her, and Tifa lost all trace of being calm if the matter was as much as mentioned. But hey, maybe Cloud was tired of being a twenty-five year old virgin and decided to abduct his woman from downstairs and take her on my bed for reason unknown. Ew, that was just gross on so many levels! Thankfully, that wasn't the case, but the current scenario was actually even weirder. The hell was Vincent doing in my room, and why was I awake? I mumbled something inaudible as he stopped beside the bed and looked down at me with a serious gaze. Okay, this was officially creeping me out. He looked like he was about to rape me, so grave and scary. Just as I was about to ask him what in the blazes he was doing in my room with his worst pedo-face directed towards me, he leaned down way closer than I fancied and stared at me, his features now resembling those of a madman.

"Yuffie."

"Y-yes?" I squeaked.

"Can we trust her?"

"The fuck you talking 'bout? What're you doin' in my room?"

"The girl with the silver hair and the mako-green eyes. Can we trust her?"

"Alyera? The hell you talk…"

"How many people do you know with such power? Demons, mako, inhuman eyes?"

"Lessee… Allie, you, Featherass, Sephy-chan, Silver freak mark one, two and three…oh, and that porcupine dude I met in Wutai when I was little, wasn't he like, Cloud's buddy? Zack? Yeah, that's his name. What of it?"

"Think. Even I have gone out of control. So has Cloud and Sephiroth. The avatars were uncontrollable from the beginning. "

"What're you trying to say?"

"What do you think I am trying to say? Can we trust that girl to not lose her mind and kill us all?"

"Are you kidding me? Of course we can! She hasn't shown any signs…"

"She does not need to show signs. She might snap just like that, without warnings. She is dangerous."

"So what d'ya suggest we do? Talk to her about it, or have Reeve's guys do something to extract the mako from her or something?"

"I say we put her down."

"_What?_"

"You heard me. She is a danger to us all, so I say we put her to sleep."

"What is she to you?" I screamed at him. What the hell was he thinking? Had he gone insane? "You talk like she's some rabid dog you could just kill like it was nothing! She's a _human_, a person, my friend! "

"She is not human! She is a monster of destruction, just like me…"

Oh, come on. Hadn't he got over that stuff? And who was he to judge Alyera, he didn't know her, I knew she wasn't dangerous, she couldn't be…

"I will kill her. The sooner the better."

He swept out of the room, ominous like a god about to strike an infidel with bolts of holy lightning. I was completely paralysed. He was going to kill her. Now? Was he already on his way? I couldn't move; all of my limbs were frozen with terror. I heard a door open further down the corridor, a girl's voice sounding cheery, a gunshot. He had done it. He'd killed her, my friend, the troubled being I wanted to rescue... The paralysis loosened its grip, and I wailed.

"_NO!"_

I woke up, covered in sweat, sitting up straight as a stick. I was shaking, my hands trembled in front of my eyes. My vision was blurry and I couldn't think straight. I realised I was screaming at the top of my lungs, a sound from the darkest pits of hell, emitted by someone tortured by their worst nightmare. I shut my mouth and felt like I was about to choke on my tongue, so I quickly opened it again and gasped for air. What was the madness I had just witnessed in my dream? Crying like a baby I convulsively hugged the sheets, clenching my fists. It was a silly dream, a completely unreal one, but it's always like that when you've had a nightmare. It doesn't matter if you dreamt you were chased by a ladybug in a tutu, as long as it's after you and you know something terrible will happen if it catches you, that fear lingers even when you've woken up. My dream had been more horrifying than ballerina bugs, and the memory was too much for me to handle. My best friends killing each other…the usually so calm Vincent irrationally shooting an innocent girl just like that, it was enough to make anyone cry. What's worse was I somehow believed he might actually do that. Not without a reason, but if Allie ever was to lose control Vince might decide to "put her down". And there was no saying she wouldn't go insane and release her demon. Dream-Vincent had been right on one point: She was a ticking bomb. I knew she was weak, not physically but mentally, and who knew what would happen if she succumbed to the tainted mako in her body? Oh Leviathan, why couldn't I find friends who were _not_ instable, full of weird abilities and the power of the Lifestream, why couldn't they just be _normal?_ Sniffling, with tears still streaming down my cheeks, I heard running footsteps outside. The next second the door was flung open and Tifa, followed by a hysterical Alyera stormed into my room.

"Yuffie! What happened? We heard you scream, we thought you were dyi-…are you crying?"

Teefs seemed surprised. Hadn't she seen me cry before? Maybe not, I couldn't remember. One thing that was sure as hell though, was that she'd never heard me wail like a banshee, cowering in my sheets like a kid.

"What is the matter, Yuffie?" Allie's worried face appeared before my eyes. She'd climbed into my bed and was now sitting in front of me, holding my hands between hers. Her silver hair, sad and concerned eyes, her warm hands…how could this girl be a demon?

"I had a nightmare", I mumbled, suddenly ashamed. Kids cried when they had a bad dream, adults didn't. I hadn't grown up yet, that much was evident.

"Poor thing", Tifa said while leaning down to hug me. It was comforting, but at the same time humiliating. Now I felt even more like a kiddo.

"I'm fine", I blurted out. "I…uh, what time is it?"

"I'd say about two o'clock. Vincent said you guys were out until sunrise last night."

"Yeah…it sure was tiring. Two, you say. Can I have breakfast? Or lunch? Or just about anything at all actually? I'm hungry."

"I figured you'd be, so I had Alyera prepare an omelette for you. It's easy to heat in the microwave, and it takes no time at all. Come on Yuffie, wipe those tears away and cheer up. It's just a dream, right?"

"Thanks, both of you. You're right Teef, it's just a stupid dream. But you know, it's so damn scary when you're dreaming and then it kinda lingers…ahaha!" Wow, way to go, Yuffie. That laughter was probably the most awkward sound you've ever made. I wanted to hit myself. But at least the hitting part was good; it showed that I was starting to get back my usual self. When I raised my gaze it met Alyera's. She smiled and let go of my hands. They weren't shaking anymore. A deep breath, and the remaining terror left my body. Somewhat. I still shivered like a rabbit on the inside though, and it just didn't want to go away.

-TWR&TH-

I spent my day eating and helping out a little in the bar. Tifa said I should take it easy since I was going out hunting for rapists as soon as it got dark. I agreed with that; it was a tiresome job to be Reeve's secret ninja assassin of ultimate justice in the night, but I still wanted to do it. It sure felt a lot more rewarding than being a barmaid; I did something that mattered for society as well as the safety of the citizens in Edge. It almost felt like being back in the days when we saved the world, only this time the world was Edge and we traversed it in the darkness as if _we_ were the criminals. There were no vast forests, rivers and mountains this time, but instead jungles of apartment complexes, heavily trafficked roads and giant piles of rubble that still hadn't been cleaned up after Meteorfall and the attack of Bahamut SIN. This was what they called a "city jungle" alright, and I knew that somewhere out there lurked a fearsome carnivore, hiding in the shadows where we couldn't see the evil glimmer coming from his eyes. But sooner or later we'd find him, no matter how long it took. Vincent was darkness itself; nothing as shady as that villain could ever hide from him. I was the Angel of Justice; the light I radiated would shine my way and illuminate him until he couldn't hide anymore. Convinced of my own awesomeness, the day went by quickly, and before long it was dinner and then work time. I was as enthusiastic as ever, Vincent as gloomy as ever and Tifa and Alyera as worried as ever. When we headed out, the brown-haired and the silver-haired women clasped their hands as if praying, telling me to be careful and not do anything stupid.

"Yes yes, I know, have a nice evening and goodbye!"

Vincent seemed amused by the situation. Probably because it was so very typical of me and Tifa to be like this. With Teef still shouting orders to keep myself safe at my back, Vinnie and I darted away in the darkening evening. The show had begun! The excitement like bolts of lightning in my veins; the adventure like steel in my spine; the insanity like fire under my feet. Yes, we were most likely insane, the two of us. Vincent was, well, Vincent. As for me, what normal person would be excited to chase a criminal like this one? I didn't care. After all I had been through, it would've been even weirder if I _wasn't _slightly crazy.

A ninja's true element is the darkness. Here we operate in silent agreement with the night; we take down those who wish to disturb its serenity and it hides us with its blackness. Just like the previous night, me and Vince split up. I continued alone, less scared than I had been yesterday, but I also felt tiredness come creeping much sooner. I felt like some midnight police, breaking up a bunch of drunk fighters outside a bar (by smacking them one, or maybe two), incapacitating a drug dealer and his customer leaving them with a note for the real cops, and, by throwing my burning Eveningstar at them, scaring the living shit outta some teenagers breaking windows. Of course I missed on purpose, but Eveningstar made a graceful turn around them, surrounding the group with afterimages of flames. That sure made it clear that someone was watching them. Thugs and lowlifes were Yuffie's Ultimate Criminal-Chasing Awesome Dispatch Society Cleansing Cool Ninja's clients too, but they're not the one I was looking for. I was getting more impatient by the hour, but forced myself into being calm and think of how much of a better place Edge would be because of me. The longer it took before the rapist was found, judged and put behind bars; the more punks and thrash and thieves I could take care of. Reeve's troops were evidently no good for this kind of work. Too heavy, too clumsy, to slow and too loud. The old dude should consider getting himself a squad of ninja. I could train them, with the proper payment of course. It would be the best ninja squad in the world. Well, probably the only one too, but hey, if there ever were more they wouldn't beat mine.

A disturbing thought had clawed at my mental barrier for a while now, and as I concentrated on my work at the same time as I let my thoughts wander, it had now found a weak spot and penetrated. The nightmare crept back into my head…Allie snapping. I knew it could happen, I'd seen it happen. I'd heard from Cloud that Sephiroth had been a nice guy once, before he found out about Jenova. I'd seen the madness he had left in his wake. I'd seen what the mako did to Cloud, I'd seen Chaos trying his best to erase all life-forms close to him and I'd seen corrupted Lifestream energy polluting the land. I sure as hell didn't wanna see that tainted mako, full of bad intents, destroy someone as pure and innocent as Alyera. But what if it _did_ happen, what would I have to do? Kill her? I couldn't. Never. If her demon took over her mind and body, it was my duty as her best buddy to calm her down. Fighting her would be necessary, but I didn't wanna hurt her. I'd need to disable her…I'd _have_ to hurt her, until she couldn't fight anymore. Then, the demon would go away into hiding, Allie'd be herself…for a while. That's what I'd have to do, every time it happened. If it _did_ happen. I decided right then that I'd do anything in my power to strengthen her mind until she could defend herself, I'd be her pillar, her unwavering support. I wouldn't let the darkness take her. She had never had a reason to live before; now I wanted to create one for her.

-TWR&TH-

A few nights passed, and still no sign of our prey. We took care of all sorts of people; drug dealers, pickpockets, burglars and a couple of rapists – but they were drunk and horny men, not our sadistic target. This strange job had become a habit, I'd become a nocturnal being who slept from sunrise to a few hours before sunset, and hunted in the night. I was growing impatient; I was tired of chasing someone I had never seen and couldn't find. However, something happened that made all enthusiasm and anger return.

I heard her from a distance. Her scream was so loud, so full of fear. It only lasted for a few seconds, he must've silenced her, but it was enough for a ninja. However, I couldn't find her in time. When I got there, he was already gone. She was shaking on the ground, crying silently. Her purse thrown on the ground, one of her sandals had fallen off and she clasped the torn remains of her shirt in her hands. He couldn't have left long ago, she hadn't been silent for more than a minute. It had been hard to find her, and now my prey had run off. I wanted to follow him, hunt him down and tear him to shreds. But the girl…I couldn't leave her. She was naked, what had probably been a skirt lay in the dirt nearby, and the only cover she had was the ripped shirt. I hurried over to her and knelt by her side, putting my hand on her shoulder. She twitched like a mouse when you direct the ray from a flashlight at it, quivering with terror. She was still absolutely silent, covered in dirt and stained…with blood. Oh Leviathan have mercy, I didn't want to know what he had done to her. She seemed so young, she was so thin and pale, she almost glowed in the darkness. Skin so fair it was almost white, and light blonde hair…why did something like this happen to her, it wasn't fair, she couldn't possibly be over 18, why wasn't there any justice in this world…

"It's alright, he's gone, I'll protect you", I whispered. It wasn't true. Nothing was alright, and my trembling voice couldn't lie like the words it spoke. But at least I could defend her. She was so vulnerable, completely at the mercy of whatever thugs were around here. Anything could happen to her if she was alone, but I was here now. I'd help her, somehow, it was my duty. But at the same time, if I went now, I could catch up to him and…no. She needed me. I couldn't leave her, but something I _could _do was notifying Vincent. I summoned a Fire spell into Eveningstar and threw her into the sky where she flared like a star for a few seconds before returning to my hand. I was absolutely sure Vinnie would see it and come. Turning back to the girl, I tried to decide what to do. Wait for Vince, or get her to hospital immediately? She needed clothes. I went and collected the skirt, but it was too torn to wear. Dammit, I only had my usual shorts and tank top combo, nothing she could use unless I stripped. I better wait for Vince and his cloak.

Something else came up before Vincent arrived. More rapists. Or, soon-to-be rapists. They passed by the alley we were in, saw us, saw the naked girl on the ground. And they grinned. As they began making their way towards us, I raised Eveningstar as a warning.

"Oh, gonna fight us, girlie?" one of them said.

"If I have to, yeah, so stay back, scum!"

"Yer sure actin' tough now, but just ya wait and yer ain't gonna be so cocky when yer had yer clothes ripped off, miss!" They laughed. Gods, I could feel the smell of alcohol even from over here. They were all evidently drunk, staggering and slurring. They had enough coordination to split into two groups though, one heading for the girl and the other preparing to fight me. The blonde screamed when she realised what was about to happen, frantically trying to crawl away from them. The ground, because you could hardly call it a street, was dirty and her bare feet and hands slipped in the mud. Screaming again, she tried to get up, but fell back down almost immediately. I gripped my weapon tighter and charged. A strike with steel and flame and one of them went down, roundhouse kick followed by a few swift combo punches brought down the second, and for the third I rushed at him, jumped, placed my feet on his chest and pushed. He was slammed into the brick wall behind him while I flew back to my original position. The commotion had caused their friends to shift their attention towards me. I bent my knees, weighing back on my heels before rolling over on my toes, keeping balance and waiting for them to make the first move. They began to close in on me, slowly, like hyenas on a lioness. Just as I was about to attack, someone grabbed me from behind. His arms went around me like chains keeping me immobilised; his right forced my arm back so I couldn't throw my shuriken while his left held my body close to his. A chill went down my spine and froze my entire body. I'd made a miscalculation, I'd taken it for granted that the first three were unconscious, I hadn't checked them properly and not paid any attention to what was happening behind me, and this was my punishment. He reeked from beer, he was warm and sweaty even though the night was a bit cold and he giggled hysterically in my ear. Come on Yuffie, a drunk man was no problem for a ninja of Wutai! Or so I thought. After having tried to snake my way out of his grip, I realised that this guy was really strong. He wouldn't let me move an inch, let alone free myself from him. The others were laughing, casually walking towards us. The blonde girl was silent now, I hoped she was smart enough to understand that if she kept quiet they would forget about her. At least until they were done with me.

That's when I fully grasped the situation. I couldn't move, it was in the middle of the night in the slums and I was surrounded by four men who, in a few seconds, would rape me. I couldn't help it; I'd lost all my pride as a warrior the moment the man behind me captured me, leaving me as nothing but a scared girl in the wrong neighbourhood. I screamed, a shrill and desperate noise, a sound created from someone who knew they were caught with no escape. I twisted and kicked, trying to get loose, but he held me so hard it hurt and I ended up writhing in pain instead. This was a nightmare, and I'd had enough of that kind. As the other three came within range, two of them grabbed my legs and held them. I tried to kick again, but the fear made me weak. At that point I somewhat gave up, accepting the fact that four against one in this situation was way too unfair odds for me to win. I hung in the man's arms like a doll, thinking that if I relaxed then maybe it wouldn't hurt so much. They were tugging at my shorts, unbuttoning them and forcefully pulling them down. The one holding me saw his chance now that I wasn't struggling to rests anymore and moved his left hand further up, in under my top. I shivered when I felt him shove it up my bra, his skin was sticky with sweat and this was most likely the most disgusting feeling I've ever experienced. He was breathing hard in my ear; his right arm locked mine so hard I had lost all feeling in my hand. I heard the thump as Eveningstar hit the ground. I'd dropped my only weapon. Since I'd never had any real trouble with any of the other people I'd fought, I hadn't bothered hiding small shuriken down my socks anymore. I'd become arrogant, I'd believed I was invincible. At a time like this, when I was more scared than I had ever been before in my life, it wasn't hard to admit my weaknesses. I didn't know that I was crying until I felt tears trickle down my cheek, dripping onto my chest and wetting the top. The man had pulled it up all the way now, his hand still inside my bra. Now I could actually see what he was doing and felt even more disgusted. Their hands were everywhere now. I felt them running along my legs, body and over my chest; they started pulling at me to get me to lie down. As my capturer changed position I made a feeble attempt to break free, but the situation had drained me of all my strength and I was pushed down on the ground. I would've done anything to stop their hands from touching me, their dirty, filthy, unclean hands, but they were merciless and left no part of my body without attention from their stinky foul fingers. One of them pressed his mouth against mine, his reeking breath making me nauseous. I twitched and again tried to pull away from them, but I was even weaker than before and the only thing I accomplished was starting to tremble from crying.

_Leviathan, oh holy serpent of the sea, why have you abandoned your daughter at a time and place like this?_

I didn't even care anymore. Maybe it was for the best. Like many other girls, I had dreamed my first time would be with a boy I loved after a candlelit dinner where he would look me in the eyes and say that he loved me while holding my hand. When we were about to do it, I'd say I was afraid that it would hurt and he'd respond saying that he'd be gentle and careful with me. Yeah, that kind of romantic dream. But nowadays, most girls lost their virginity when drunk at a party, not even remembering who they slept with the day after. My cute little dream probably wouldn't have come true anyway, so maybe it was good as it was. It'd hurt, but then it'd be over and no douchebag boyfriend would destroy my fantasies. After all, I had myself to blame, being arrogant and getting myself into trouble like this. This would be my punishment and I deserved it. I closed my eyes and tried to think of something else. What could I do for Alyera? Be a good friend of course, make her feel wanted and needed and loved... I couldn't. I couldn't think of other things now, not when they were starting to rip my underwear off. They were drunk and fumbled, but it wouldn't take them much more time anyway. But I wouldn't scream, at least I could tell myself that. No screaming. I couldn't stop the tears, but I wouldn't give them the pleasure of hearing me beg for mercy. My pride would never die completely, not even now. Its fire would burn, I'd fight! It was as a weight was lifted from my chest. Like the men holding me had let go and I was free. See, I can be pretty determined about certain things. The power of will is strong, it even freed me of this earthly matter that held me down.

I could hear thumps and yells. I opened my eyes. It was so dark, why? Oh, that's right. It was in the middle of the night. Huh, in my imagination I had drifted away into a white mist with not a care in the world. Kinda like a black-out, but more like, white-out. I shook my head, and slowly shapes began to form in the darkness. What were those loud noises? They were annoying and made my head ache. Where were those filthy guys? I sat up. The white girl hiding behind some boxes, the men were on the ground with a beast towering over them. I screamed, and the monster turned its head towards me. Black fur coat, white hair, red loincloth… I knew this beast.

"Vincent."

He transformed back into a man, his hair once again darker than the night sky and eyes glowing like rubies. He hurried over and knelt beside me, taking me in his arms. I instinctively grabbed his cloak and buried my face in it; now all the fear I had suppressed came back and I began sobbing. He embraced me and covered my half-naked body with the mantle. So warm, so safe. His scent meant safety to me; I knew that no-one could hurt me now. He held me so gently, careful to not let the tips of his gauntlet fingers scratch me. I let go of his cloak and instead wrapped my arms around his thin body; his warmth was surprising. He was such a cold person, and yet he emitted such warmth as he held me.

"Yuffie. I am not going to ask if they hurt you, because I know they did."

"Yeah." I nodded. "But…she's been badly hurt. More than me." I felt his movements as he lifted his head to look at the girl.

"Was it…"

"Him. I think so. I didn't have a chance to ask her." My voice still trembled, but my tears were mostly silent now.

"I will call the WRO and have them send troops and an ambulance."

I nodded. He got up and unclasped the buckles on his cloak and gave it to me. I realised how small I was compared to him, and how naked I felt in only grimy underwear. When he noticed how embarrassed I was and how my cold fingers fumbled with the mantle he squatted and wrapped it around me. He was so gentle, even his eyes. He looked so sad, like he used to before he found his redemption. He was sad because of what had almost happened to me. Because of what _had_ happened. I watched him as he got to his feet and made the call. Without the cape, he seemed so fragile. Sure, he was a tall man, but thin and pale. And yet so strong…he was a mystery even to me who knew him, maybe better than anyone. You don't really call guys beautiful, but then again, he wasn't your ordinary guy. Vincent was, simply put, a beautiful man. Like Alyera's wild rose, crimson and nice to the eye but full of thorns and way more dangerous than you'd imagine.

Casting aside all thoughts of Vincent for the moment, I clutched the mantle around me as I too got up and made my way over to the girl. I picked up a coat from one of the men and put it around her shoulders. She looked up at me with big, blue eyes. And that's when I remembered. I had met her at the café the day I was out shopping with Allie. She'd been with her boyfriend and I gave them autographs.

"You're…Naminé!" She nodded. I sat down next to her. "I met you at a café. I'm Yuffie Kisaragi, remember?" She nodded again. "I'm sorry I couldn't help you in time, but my friend called for help. You'll get an ambulance soon. Sorry."

"It's not your fault", she whispered. "You saved me from the other men, risking yourself."

"Thanks, Naminé. I'll stay with you until the ambulance arrives."

"Thank you, miss Yuffie."

"Hey, who're you calling "miss"? Just say Yuffie." I placed my arm around her and sat with her while Vince was watching over us from the shadows. When I could hear the sirens closing in, I patted her shoulder and got up. I didn't want to be here when the WRO arrived, or they'd force me to the hospital as well. I never liked hospitals; they were too clean and white and sterilised. It was like a prison, disguised in good intents. Sure, they treated sick people, but I wasn't sick. I went up to the roof, and from there I saw the ambulance drive down the street and turn into the alley. Just before the vehicle's lights hit him, Vincent swiftly ascended up to the roof to join me. The girl was in good hands now, and in silent agreement we walked away. I was slow, my knees shook and I felt completely drained of energy. I noticed Vincent glancing at me.

"Yuffie, how are you?"

"I'm fine, just fine…just fine."

Oh, screw it. I couldn't pretend. And I was sure he'd noticed my shaking knees even under the cloak. I wasn't fine and I didn't want to be even the slightest bit away from him. He was my only protection right now. So I cried. I threw myself into his arms and cried, and he held me just as gently as before. He had me sit down, but since my spine seemed too weak to carry up my torso I ended up half hanging, half lying while he carried my weight. Carefully he laid me down in his lap, but I wriggled and struggled until I could wrap my arms around his neck instead. In surprise, my weight caused him to fall backwards and I found myself on top of him. I curled up like a ball, my legs were still on the roof but I pulled them up close to his body for warmth. My head rested on his chest, and as I cried I could feel his beating heart, slow, calm, steady.

"Yuffie…please refrain from scaring me like that again."

Scaring him? He had been scared? _The _Vincent Valentine, scared?

"What do you mean?" I asked him, sobbing.

"I saw your alarm. I hurried towards it, but then I heard you scream. I thought you were dying. And when I arrived, you were on the ground…I thought I had lost you. But then I saw what…what they were about to do. The Galian Beast took over before I had a chance to stop him. I let my anger take control of me. I am sorry."

"Why?"

"I could have hurt you. And I was too late."

"No, you weren't. I'm so happy you came, Vincent. I was scared, too. You saved me from them. I was the one who was late, I couldn't save Naminé and I missed the opportunity to catch him…"

I had managed to talk without being interrupted by tears, but now I couldn't stop them.

"They were so dirty and drunk, they stank of alcohol and they wouldn't let go! They touched me everywhere-" I whimpered and crawled like a worm until my head was on his collarbone and my right arm over his heart. To think that such a cold and bony man could feel this soft and warm! I felt him move his arms, and seconds later he had covered both of us with his cloak. Now we were closer than before, when we weren't separated by the fabric. He moved again, but I couldn't figure out what he was doing until he placed his hand on my back.

He had taken off his glove and gauntlet. His bare hands and fingers were so living, so…real. If he had been warm and gentle before, by his standards, then I didn't even know what this was. For some reason, his touch gave me goose bumps. I cried into the leather he always covered himself with, leather that smelt like the traffic in Midgar, the steel in Junon and the salty sea. It smelt like the grass in the plains, the coal in North Coral and the dusty Cosmo Canyon rocks. It smelt like the dark cellar in Niebelheim where we found him, the snow in Icicle Inn and the mako-stained stones in Northern Crater. He smelt like Seventh Heaven. He smelt like home.

"Yuffie…?"

Why did his calling my name send a shiver down my spine? It was strange, he had said it many times before, why was now any different?

"Yes?"

"You have goose bumps. Are you cold?"

"Yes", I answered. I wasn't. "Yes, I'm cold."

And I curled up even closer to him, my chin now resting at the base of his neck. I could feel my own breath reflecting back at me from his skin. He was now downright embracing me, hard. I had gone from the most scared ever in my life, to the safest I had ever been in just a few minutes. I loved it right now, and the fear had begun to loosen its grip of me. On a whim, I reached up and kissed Vincent on the cheek.

"Thank you, Vinnie" I whispered before returning my head to his shoulder. My eyelids felt heavy, so I closed them. He was comfortable, this man.

-TWR&TH-

I woke up to a view of a starry sky. I wondered for a few seconds why I was flying, before I realised that Vince was carrying me. I didn't quite see the point in notifying him that I was awake, so I just stayed still, wrapped in his fluffy red cloak. I could see his eyes glow as the starlight reflected in them. It was pretty, but soon those eyes turned to look at me. He had noticed, but didn't say anything. He didn't _have_ anything to say, and neither did I. I looked around us, and was surprised by the speed we were moving at. Carrying me didn't seem to slow him down one bit. Before I knew it, we had flown in through my window which was always left open for us to return through. Vincent didn't let go of me until he had carried me to my bed and carefully placed me there. I sat under his cloak, thoughts racing. When I gave him the mantle back and he was about to leave, I grabbed his hand. The gauntlet and glove were back on.

"Don't leave me, please?" I sounded pretty pathetic, but I considered myself to have a pretty good reason.

"Why?"

"Because I don't wanna be alone. I'm scared."

"You are safe now, Yuffie. They cannot reach you here."

"I know, but I still don't wanna be alone in the darkness."

"What do you want me to do?"

"Just…stay here. I'm sorry, I know it's inconvenient and all, but I'm afraid… I had a really bad dream a few nights ago, and it's still bothering me, and after tonight I'm afraid of more nightmares, so please Vincent, I'll do anything if you just stay with me!"

"You are telling a male friend to stay the night in your room, offering to do anything? Be happy I am not the kind to misinterpret things like that."

"I know, you're great, you know what I mean, just please?" He nodded. "Thank you. Would you mind turning around so I can change?" He did, and I quickly unclasped my bra and pulled the t-shirt over my head. "Done!"

He turned back and sat down with his back against the bed. I pulled up the duvet over me and stretched my hand down toward him, grabbing his arm and pulling until I held his hand in mine. He understood and shifted position until he could hold my hands in both his, so much bigger ones. Again, glove and gauntlet weren't present. He must've taken them off while was changing. Just him holding my hand felt so safe, and it didn't take me long to fall asleep. I was sure I wouldn't have any bad dreams this night.

_**You didn't think I'd let Yuffie be raped, did you? I'm not that wicked! But yeah, I'm content with this chapter, and I have lots of ideas for new ones ^^ I hope you liked, reviews make my day, dears **_

_**Love,  
Shade Lamora**_


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